


it's always ourselves we find

by ahtohallan_calling



Series: coworkers au [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, beach flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:34:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23122582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahtohallan_calling/pseuds/ahtohallan_calling
Summary: “I’d say it was nice working with you, but you’re quite possibly my least favorite person in the history of the world.”(Or, how Kristoff and Anna learned to stop stealing each other's paper clips, admit that he was the one leaving her M&Ms, actually finish this presentation on time so they don't get fired, and share a bed.)
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: coworkers au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711594
Comments: 169
Kudos: 143





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gabiwnomagic](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=gabiwnomagic).



> thank you gabi for the prompt: "jan, coworkers 1, sharing a bed *insert maniacal laughter here*"
> 
> this was supposed to be a drabble but instead y'all get a multichap because i have...a problem

"You can have the bed," Kristoff told her, already unzipping his suitcase.

"No need to start pretending to be chivalrous now for my sake," Anna said testily, tossing her own into a corner. "We both need sleep. It's big enough we can share."

"What if you kick me?" he asked, just to needle her.

"Oh, for god's sake," she snapped, snatching the extra pillows from the closet and lining them down the middle of the king-sized bed. "Problem solved. Stay on your side. Which is the one by the window."

"But that leaves you in charge of the alarm clock. I don't know if I trust you with that."

Anna narrowed her eyes, and he held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, that time I was screwing with you."

She let out a huff that was half a laugh and half irritation. "Shitty luck you got stuck driving me here  _ and _ sharing a room with me."

"Not luck. Your sister. I think she thinks if we share all our time together outside of the project, too, then we'll be forced to learn how to get along and somehow fix this mess."

"But we already share the world's tiniest office."

"Kid you not, exactly what I told her,” Kristoff said, giving up on digging through his suitcase. “Can I borrow your hairbrush?”

“You brush your hair? Could have fooled me,” she said, extracting one from her duffle bag and tossing it towards him.

“Fuck off. I wouldn’t need to do it if  _ someone  _ hadn’t insisted on rolling the window down.”

“Your driving made me carsick.”

“Everything you do makes me carsick,” he muttered, tossing the brush back.

“Yeah, well, you’re one to talk, Mr. ‘Never Sharpen Any of the Pencils’.”

“Literally all of my work is done on the computer. Why would  _ I _ do that when you’re ‘Miss I Doodle For A Living’?”

“Because you use them all the damn time to make your little to-do lists.”

She had a point. He crossed his arms over his chest anyway and said, “That doesn’t count.”

“Jesus,” Anna moaned, flopping onto the bed and covering her face with her hands. “We’re going to get fired, aren’t we?”

He sighed and sat on the opposite side. “Looks like it.”

“I’d say it was nice working with you, but you’re quite possibly my least favorite person in the history of the world.”

“Likewise. Want to go take advantage of this company catered dinner while we still can?”

Anna sat up on her elbows, grinning as she peered at him over the pillow wall between them. “Do you think they’ll have a dessert table?”

“Yeah. And I’m going to clear it out before you even get there,” he said, already rising to his feet once more. 

She scrambled over the pillows and pushed off against his shoulder as she darted towards the door, laughing when he sat back down with an audible  _ oof _ . “That’s what you think, Bjorgman.”

He couldn’t help but grin as he rubbed at his shoulder, pretending he hadn’t sat down when she’d pushed him only to humor her. “It’s what I  _ know _ . I’ve got a bigger mouth than you.”

“Trust me, I’ve noticed,” she said, lingering by the door. “Are you coming or not?”

“I thought it was a race.”

“It was until I remembered we’re supposed to be on our best behavior. Best partners of all time.”

“Definitely not constantly at each other’s throats,” he said, getting up and ambling over to her.

“Or stealing my paper clips.”

  
“ _My_ paper clips,” he countered, holding the door open for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think i said this last chapter but in case i didn't, this fic is really just going to be a collection of snapshot drabbles of their work trip rather than how i normally write fics so! just a heads up there hehe

“So,” Hans said with a lazy grin, leaning back in his chair and tossing an arm over the shoulders of the woman next to him, “how is it working with Bjorgman, Anna? And don’t hold back. Believe me, I’ve heard it all before.”

She felt rather than saw Kristoff stiffen beside her. That was one of the talents-- or habits, maybe; she wasn’t sure what to call it-- she’d picked up sharing an office with him over the last year; she had developed a sixth sense of sorts about his moods and learned to prepare herself accordingly. 

“We don’t actually work that closely together,” she hedged with a small shrug. “Just share an office space.”

Hans snorted at that. “Please. You’re among  _ friends _ , Anna. You know what I meant. You can tell the truth.”

_ Friends _ , she thought, was a little generous for the head of sales, who she’d only seen in the office and on two resoundingly  _ terrible _ dates, and his cluster of also-in-sales friends and the woman she presumed was tonight’s unfortunate date.

Then again, Kristoff had been the one to set her up on the dates.

She glanced to the side and saw he had knotted his large hands in his lap, hidden just under the edge of the table. His knuckles were starting to whiten; she wondered if his face, too, was starting to show the strain. He was usually pretty good at keeping a straight face, especially when she was snapping at him, but when something  _ actually _ started to bother him--

“It’s great,” she said without stopping to consider any further. “He’s very...organized. And diligent. Great work ethic.”

Hans opened his mouth, but she forged ahead anyway. “And there’s not many people like that left these days. So I like working with him. A lot, actually.”

This time she actually heard when Kristoff let out a breath next to her, and from the corner of her eye, she saw him turn, just barely, towards her. But she kept her eyes locked on Hans’s, challenging him even as she kept a saccharine smile plastered on her face. 

A smirk passed over his face and settled there. “Lucky you, then. If only he was able to behave himself around the rest of us, maybe there’d be more hope for his future with this company.”

_ Jesus _ , maybe she hated Kristoff, but she was seized by a sudden impulse and, without quite meaning to, the moment Hans turned his attention to the waiter, she shot her hand over to his lap to settle over his where they were still twined into a tight knot.

He startled slightly at the unexpected contact, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he turned slowly to her, cocking an eyebrow.

“Fucking rat bastard,” she muttered under her breath; the nickname was one of the few things they could agree on.

A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Fucking rat bastard, indeed,” he muttered under his breath. 


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate it; no, it was that he didn’t  _ understand _ it, why she’d stuck up for him at dinner and refused to say anything negative about him, though god knew there was no shortage of criticism she was ready to share with  _ him _ at any given opportunity.

And why she’d--  _ fuck _ , he was blushing again at the thought, and grateful that the lights were out and there was a pillow between their heads-- why she’d reached over and squeezed his hand like that, like she’d known it was exactly what he needed.

He knew he wouldn’t  _ actually _ get fired, at least not until Hans’s grandfather passed the company down to one of his family members. But even the thought of it, of what it would mean for his future, for his  _ family _ , was enough to flood his mind with panic no matter how many times he had heard the same tired taunts. 

He’d never told anyone about it, let alone  _ Anna _ , who he’d always assumed would roll her eyes and say “that’s what you get for being a jackass”. But it was like she’d known, somehow, and come to his defense when no one else had ever bothered before.

“Anna?” he found himself saying in the silence, hoping she hadn’t already fallen asleep.

“What?” she asked, so quickly that he was struck by the sudden thought that maybe she’d been lying awake wondering about it all, too.

“Can I ask you something?”

She groaned and moved the pillow that was between their faces. “What is so important that you have to ask me about it at midnight?” she asked, but the usual bite wasn’t there in her tone.

He turned onto his side to look at her. She was lying on her back again, moonlight illuminating the slope of her nose and the soft swell of her lips. Even in the dark, he could make out the bright blue of her eyes when she rolled her head over to glare at him.

“Are you going to ask me, or can I go back to sleep?”

He swallowed hard. “Why did you-- why did you stand up for me at dinner?”

It was her turn to grow quiet, her eyes raking slowly over his face, as if she was searching for something, before they landed on his. Her gaze was steady, and fierce somehow, the way he was sure he would have seen at the table if he’d been brave enough to look over at her.

“I get to rag on you,” she said, her voice somehow both soft and steely, “because you actually do annoying shit to me, and because there’s nothing else to do sometimes in the office, and because you can hand my ass right back to me anytime you want.”

“There’s always work to do. You just--”

“Shut the  _ fuck  _ up, Kristoff, you’re the one who asked.”

He chuckled at that. “Sorry. Habit.”

Maybe it was the moonlight playing tricks on him, but he thought he saw her smile at him then. “Anyway, as I was  _ trying _ to say before I was  _ rudely interrupted _ , you can’t fight back when it’s Hans. And anyway, you never did anything to him except fix his computer and show him how to delete porn from his history. So he doesn’t have any right to talk about you like that.”

Neither of them spoke for a long moment, but neither of them turned away. For some absurd reason, he wished the rest of the pillows between them were gone, too, so that he could reach over and squeeze her hand again, feel once more how delicate it felt pressed against his. Her fingers had been cold at dinner; he wondered if she might like for him to hold her hand until they warmed back up, if maybe--

“Thank you,” he said before something stupider had a chance to slip out.

“It’s nothing. You’d do the same for me, right?” Anna asked, hesitating a little on the last word.

“Of course,” he said, hoping he sounded reassuring enough. “I mean, we don’t get along, but you don’t deserve to get shit from anyone. Except me, obviously.”

“Obviously,” she said, and this time she was  _ definitely _ smiling at him.

He cleared his throat and rolled over onto his back before he could do something ridiculous like smile back. “Well, anyway. Thanks, like I said.”

“You’re welcome. Can I go back to sleep now?”

_ You were never asleep at all _ , he wanted to tease her, half-curious where it might lead them, but instead he sighed. “Jesus, yeah, if it means you’ll be less grumpy with me.”

To his surprise, instead of replacing the pillow between them, she took it and set it under hers. “Thank god. Good night, Kristoff.”

“Good night, Anna. Sweet dreams.”

She sighed and muttered something under her breath.

“What?”

“I  _ said _ , you better not think we’re friends now.”

“Trust me, I would hate nothing more.”

“Good,” she said, and then sighed. “Sweet dreams to you, too.”


	4. snoring pt 1

When Anna woke up, sunlight was streaming through the parted curtains, softening the familiar lines of Kristoff’s face and turning his sleep-mussed hair into a golden halo. For a moment she forgot herself and smiled at the sight. He looked so  _ different _ like this, no furrowed brow or scowl pulling down the corners of his mouth. It was the first time, she realized, she had seen him looking at peace. Even on the rare occasion he smiled at her, there was something tight in it.

A little twinge of guilt sounded through her at the realization that she was one of the reasons he never looked like this when he was awake.

A soft snore escaped him, and she bit back a laugh, already pleased at the thought of how she could tease him about it later. He would get irritated and crossly point out that she snored too, and she would insist she didn’t, and they’d go on sniping back and forth at each other until she threw her hands up in the air or he crossed his arms across his chest and turned away, and half an hour later they’d be back at it again, all the while trying to hide their little smirks from each other.

It was hard to remember sometimes that she did have good reasons to dislike him. He never sharpened the pencils; when he got in one of his moods he would only grunt in response to her even if she forced herself to say something nice; and of course, the biggest reason of all: he didn’t like  _ her _ .

She had thought at the beginning that she liked him, had thought there was something handsome about his broad, freckled nose and the way his button-downs always looked like they were close to splitting when he raised his massive arms to stretch. She’d said as much to Jessica in accounting over lunch one day during her second week at the company and had received a knowing nod in reply.

“Everyone here thinks that when they’re new,” she’d explained between bites of salad. “Like, damn, have you seen him run his hands through his hair? How it gets all flippy and looks all-- well, you know.”

“Uh-huh. He does that a lot when I ask him for help.”

Jessica had laughed at that. “And he mutters under his breath the whole time he’s helping, right?”

“Um….” 

“He’s not a bad guy, I think, just doesn’t like people. Like, at all. And honestly, I don’t think he even knows he’s hot. What a waste, you know?”

It was a waste, Anna couldn’t help but think now, as she wriggled a little closer, wishing suddenly that the pillows weren’t in the way. Not that she wanted to  _ touch _ him, of course-- she just wanted a better look at him while she had the chance. 

It might be nice, though, to touch him when she wasn’t teasingly pushing him aside or elbowing him in annoyance, to feel his hands on her when he wasn’t catching her arm to keep her from storming into someone’s office to shout at them or grabbing her around the waist to keep her from tripping over something.

Now that she thought about it, they did touch each other a lot more than most coworkers did, didn’t they?

So maybe it wasn’t that weird for her to reach out and brush his hair out of his eyes, just to see if it was as soft as it looked. She lifted a tremulous hand and was halfway there when he snored again, startling her. She jerked back, her heart pounding and cheeks flushed, waiting to see if he would wake up.

He didn’t. Instead he muttered, the word unmistakable, “ _ Anna _ ”, and, with a smile, rolled onto his back.


	5. snoring pt 2

_ Fuck _ , he loved her perfume.

Anna laughed softly, twining her arms more tightly around his waist as he nestled his face closer against the crook of her neck and pressed a soft, open-mouthed kiss there. He inhaled deeply, filling his senses with ginger and peach and vanilla and that indescribable warmth that was  _ her _ , the copper shimmer of her hair and the spray of freckles over her nose and her infectious laugh and her quick, clever hands that were pressed flat against his shoulder blades as she straddled his lap, closer than he ever dreamed he’d get to be. 

“Anna,” he whispered, his own hands moving to cup her jaw as he leaned back from her. “My Anna.”

Her lips curled up into that familiar mischievous smile. “ _ Your  _ Anna?”

“Mhmm,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her at long last.

She sighed in contentment as her lips moved unhurriedly against his, gentle and sweet and so  _ soft _ he could cry. How long had he been aching to do just this with her, to catch her and pull her close to his chest and speak with lips and tongue and teeth but leave out all the words?

Except for the one word-- the only one that mattered when each brush of her skin against his sent electric sparks through every part of him and each kiss ended with her happy hums and little gasps. “ _ Anna _ ,” he said yet again, her name spilling from him in a groan as she ground her hips against him, teasing him with hints of what was to come.

Within moments they were both undressed, so fast he blinked in surprise. Already Anna had her hand wrapped around him, stroking slowly as he saw stars. “I’ve wanted this for so  _ long _ ,” she said, her voice low and hungry as her thumb slid over the head of his cock. “Have you?”

“Yes,” he gasped, setting his hands on the curve of that  _ perfect _ ass and tugging her closer. “ _ Jesus _ , Anna, since the day you-- you--”

Words failed him then as she sank down onto him, and he fucking  _ whimpered  _ as she began to move, little pants and gasps escaping her as she held on to his shoulders for leverage. He kissed her, over and over, trying to hold back for her sake, but there was a loud roaring in his ears as he thrust up into her, making it harder and harder to keep from slipping over the edge, especially when she clung to him like that and kept saying his name, more desperate with every repetition. 

“ _ Kristoff _ ,” she moaned as her movements grew more frantic, and why was she shaking his shoulder like that? “ _ Kris _ , seriously, we’re going to be late, wake  _ up _ \--”

He did so, jerking into consciousness with a gasp, and came face to face with that amused smile and those sparkling blue eyes and that fucking  _ perfume _ , and  _ Jesus _ , he hadn’t woken up this hard in  _ years _ .

“You’re a heavy sleeper, huh?” she said, a softness in her voice just like in his dream, and his heart began to pound. “I waited as long as I could to start drying my hair so I didn’t wake you up, but then your alarm started going off so I went ahead, and then you  _ still _ weren’t moving, so I--”

She trailed off, the smile melting into a look of confusion, though she didn’t remove her hand from his shoulder. “Kris?” she asked hesitantly, the nickname sending another jolt of  _ want _ through him; she  _ never _ called him that. “Everything okay?”

_ No, Anna, everything is definitely _ not _ okay, _ he wanted to say, or better yet to just grab her and kiss her like he had in the dream, but then he caught a glimpse of the clock and realized they really  _ were _ about to be late, and there was no way he’d be able to hide his hard-on from her, let alone make it go  _ down _ , if she didn’t get  _ away _ from him--

“You were snoring last night,” he said suddenly with the fiercest scowl he could muster up. “Kept me up long enough I guess that’s why I overslept.”

_ Fuck _ , there was that smile again, and now the jolt was to his  _ heart _ , the traitorous fucking thing, and she was still  _ touching _ him. “You snore, too, you know, I--”

“It was really bad, Anna,” he said mindlessly, cutting her off in a desperate attempt to get her to go  _ away _ , to go anywhere but right  _ here  _ when all he wanted was to grab her and kiss her and clutch her to him. “I mean,  _ Jesus _ , I pity the guy you’re going to end up with if that’s what he’s gonna have to hear every night for the rest of his life.”

That did it. She jerked her hand back from his shoulder as quickly as if she’d been burned, her amused expression evaporating. “Sorry,” she said, her voice stiff, and  _ shit _ , he’d crossed a line without meaning to in his panic, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but she was already turning away. “I’ll, uh, I’ll see you downstairs.”

“Anna--” he said, starting to toss the sheets aside before remembering why he’d been such an asshole in the first place and bunching them up in his lap as he sat up.

“Sorry,” she said again, and the door clicked shut behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you gabi for helping a ton with this one!! especially that line kris says to her at the end


	6. Chapter 6

Kristoff’s hair was still damp from the cold shower he’d just taken when he found himself shoving a crumpled dollar bill into the vending machine at the end of the hall. “Come on,” he muttered, bouncing impatiently from side to side as he watched the coil spin slowly forward before finally releasing the bag of M&Ms.

He shoved the bag in his pocket and headed for the elevator, counting on Anna to still be eating breakfast downstairs in the lobby. Thankfully, she was-- or was at least not in the meeting room as he set the bag of candy on top of the seat that had her name taped to the back of it, right next to his own. 

Kristoff groaned in dismay. Usually at these all-region conferences, they liked to mix it up a little more, but maybe they’d gone for this since the pair of them were supposed to give a quick speech about their presentation later in the week.

A quick speech that, until now, he had  _ completely  _ forgotten about. Kristoff scowled and ran a hand through his hair; when the manager had told them they’d have to do it, he’d just assumed Anna would be the one giving the intro speech. It made sense, didn’t it, for the social media coordinator to do the talking while the IT guy just stood there looking as useful as possible?

But they hadn’t actually talked about it, and a quick glance at his phone told him he had all of twenty minutes before the meeting started to find Anna, apologize for being a dick, and beg her to give the speech.

He sighted her in a back corner of the lobby sipping a cup of coffee--  _ probably with three creamers this time since it’s vacation _ , he thought, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smile. That faded quickly, though, when he saw she was alone. Anna was  _ never _ alone at shit like this, or at lunch or holiday parties or anywhere at all. People gravitated to her; shit, as far as he could tell, he was the only person who’d ever actually disliked her.

Except it was hard to remember exactly  _ why _ that was so right now, when something in his chest actually  _ ached _ at the sight of how dejected she looked as he approached. She didn’t look up from her barely-touched bagel even when he came to an awkward halt behind the empty chair at her table. “This seat taken?” he asked.

“No,” she said, still not meeting his eyes.

He winced when the chair screeched as he pulled it out. “So, uh, listen,” he began, but she interrupted him with a quick shake of the head.

“The speech? I’ve got it under control,” she said as she got to her feet. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just spout some bullshit about growth mindset and SEO keywords, and that’ll be that.”

“Anna--”

“See you in there,” she said, already walking away.

_ Fuck _ , he really was an antisocial piece of shit, wasn’t he?

* * *

And because Anna, as always, was a miracle of a human being, that really  _ was _ that. She put on a beautiful smile and her best customer service voice and had everyone’s rapt attention for the entirety of her spiel about how the Albany branch was taking great strides towards digitization and increased online engagement and a bunch of other stuff that left Kristoff’s head spinning as he stood stiffly beside her, trying not to make eye contact with anyone or slouch too far forward, even though he knew he looked like a fucking  _ boulder _ next to Anna, even when she was in heels. 

She hardly acknowledged him during the speech, only gesturing towards him when she made mention of the “team”, and he was grateful for it; it meant no one looked expectantly to him when they both sat back down. 

“Thank you,” he said softly, but she didn’t even look at him. 

He glanced down at his feet and caught sight of the bag of M&Ms sticking out of her purse. A lead weight settled in his stomach; that had never failed before. How many times had he snuck a bag of them onto her desk or her windshield when he’d known she was having a bad day? And how often had she cheered up almost instantaneously, chattering to him about how she’d like to figure out who this was who always brought her treats and give them a massive hug?

(She’d never mentioned, even once, any suspicion that it might be him.  _ And of course she hasn’t _ , he reminded himself,  _ because you’ve been a complete dick at every opportunity. _ )

And then, no matter how much she insisted she hated him or how much she’d picked at him that day, she’d always offer to share with him. He’d hold out a palm, and she’d pour him a handful and pick the red ones out for herself. “They taste best,” she’d explained once.

Anna didn’t notice his gaze. Her focus was fully on the man at the front of the room, even though normally by now she’d be fidgeting like a madwoman and sneaking glances at her phone until Kristoff elbowed her. There was no wiggling in her seat today; her shoulders were straight and tense, her hands twisted into a white-knuckled knot in her lap. 

If he was like her— if he was brave and kind and selfless— he’d reach over and take her hand like she’d done for him the night before. 

Instead he looked down at his own hands and wished fervently that he’d find a way to fix this. 


	7. awkward silences

“Sit _still_ , Anna,” hissed under her grandfather’s breath and delivered with a pinch when she kept turning around and standing up in the middle of church service to see what everyone else was up to.

“Anna, if you talk again, you’re getting a red card for the rest of the day,” the refrain she heard every day in first grade, that turned into “Raise your _hand_ , Miss Delle,” and snickers and whispers of “what a spaz” from her classmates.

“I heard it’s ‘cause she wouldn’t stop talking,” overheard in the bathroom in ninth grade right after her first breakup.

“I heard it’s because redheads have a temper.”

“Well _I_ heard…” and then silence when she flung the stall door open and stared them down, holding back the tears until it was just her and the cracked row of sinks.

And the pleading from her mother, “maybe if you tried to be a little more like your sister”, and “honey, that color will clash with your hair, don’t you think?” and “you know a gentle countenance is a sign of a sweet spirit.”

Her father was more direct, telling her “you’re not leaving my house looking like that” and “we never had this problem with your sister” and “Anna, for God’s sake, can you just be _quiet_?”

Anna had always known she could be A Lot, that she tended to blurt things out and get too excited and go too far and jump too fast. And she’d tried, she really had, to prune back those tendencies, to stop being a hassle to everyone. It wasn’t that she meant to be a pain in the ass, really, just that it slipped out sometimes before she could stop it.

She’d reshaped the energy she always seemed to be buzzing with into productivity and efficiency, into cheerful chatter that won over professors and then employers, into being as charming and bubbly and wonderful as she could be.

And Kristoff hadn’t given a fuck about any of it, had treated her with indifference and then outright dislike, and, if she was being honest, she _liked_ it. She liked that he gave as good as he got, that he was equally irritated by her chatter whether it was complimentary or pestering, and she liked that on the rare occasions solemnity took hold, he let go of their mutual whatever-it-was and simply met her where she was.

And she liked _him_ , dammit, his gruff demeanor and muttered curses and sarcastic comments, no matter how much she picked at him.

And how he spoke to her gently when she got worked up over a project, and how he walked her to her car if they were both still working after dark, and she’d _definitely_ caught him once fixing her squeaky desk chair when he’d thought she was still on lunch.

And she’d thought that maybe, after their conversation last night and the way he’d smiled and said her name once and then twice in his sleep-- maybe underneath it all, that he liked her too.

Well. She had been wrong. If he snapped at her like that with no provocation, if he said what he’d said-- she cringed again remembering it, how _personal_ it felt, like he’d known exactly how to wound her-- then clearly, he really and truly _did_ dislike her, and if she was being honest, she didn’t blame him.

She couldn’t keep from tormenting herself, though; she kept looking up and stealing glances at him as they worked. Behind the reading glasses he wore whenever he was programming, his brown eyes were focused completely on his work. As the morning wore on, the crease between his eyebrows grew deeper, and he kept leaning back to mumble obscenities and run a hand through his hair.

Once, she thought she caught him looking at her out of the corner of her eye, but the moment she looked up he turned quickly away to scribble something down on another one of his endless to-do lists.

It was difficult to focus on her own work, vital as it was to keeping this job and keeping Kristoff from hating her even more, when her stomach was still roiling from their exchange that morning. She couldn’t stop lambasting herself for being fool enough to think that he gave a damn whether she was on his side or not, that he’d actually been having some kind of good dream about her. And _fuck_ , she was going to have to share a room-- and a fucking _bed_ \-- with him for _three more nights_.

When she was sure Kristoff wasn’t paying attention-- no doubt if he caught her, he’d get annoyed at this, too, and she really couldn’t take that again today-- she snuck out her phone and tapped a quick message to her sister.

_you’re lucky they didn’t make you guys come down with us. you’d be hearing it from me right now._

.

_Believe me, it’s not so much fun holding down the fort with only me, Harry, and the maintenance crew. All the calls get routed to me now, including the ones asking for help troubleshooting ballpoint pens. PENS._

.

_at least you’re not sharing a bed with him, and he doesn’t hate your guts_

.

_What? I asked the hotel to give the two of you a room with two single beds._

Anna glanced up and saw Kristoff was, in fact, staring at her. He looked away quickly, though, his cheeks burning, though not before she noticed a strange softness in his eyes. It didn’t sit right with her, him looking at her like that and not even getting snippy with her about the phone, not after this morning.

“It’s just my sister telling me how things are at the office,” she said, her voice too loud in the bitter silence that had hung all morning.

He glanced up at her again, his expression carefully neutral. “Okay.”

It felt like a dismissal. She returned her attention to her phone, her own face hot now. 

_well it sure as hell didn’t work out that way._


	8. sometimes i remember to title these chapters and sometimes i don't sorry

At half-past noon, the unthinkable happened: Anna’s stomach growled, and Kristoff overheard.

He glanced up from his work so quickly she had to wonder if he’d really been working at all. “Are you--”

“I’m fine.”

He didn’t look away like she was hoping. “We can go get lunch if you want.”

“You can. I’m fine.”

“But I…” 

For a moment he just sat there, clearly choosing his words carefully, before he sighed and scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. “I...I thought maybe we could talk. Like we always do on Monday.”

“What?” she asked, eyebrows pinching together in confusion.

“We always eat lunch together on Monday and talk.”

“No we don’t.”

He tilted his head to the side, looking genuinely puzzled. “Every Monday, you bring leftovers from Sunday lunch at your sister’s, and I get a sandwich, and we eat at our desks and just, I don’t know, talk. Well, I guess we don’t always talk, but we’re not fighting, either.”

Anna blinked once and then again as it sank in. He was right, completely so; how had she failed to notice the habit forming? And, more importantly, how had  _ he  _ noticed all of hers?

“Okay,” she heard herself saying. “We can get lunch. And...whatever. But not here, not where the others can listen.”

“Definitely not,” he said, already getting to his feet as if he couldn’t wait to get this over with. “Especially not that rat bastard Hans.”

Anna laughed in spite of herself. “Lead on, then.”

“I’ll drive,” he said over his shoulder as she followed a half-step behind him.

“Obviously. Considering you drove us up here,” she said drily, smirking when she saw the back of his neck turn red. 

As they stepped out into the parking lot, they slid back into an uncomfortable silence, remembering the new tension between them. Anna didn’t dare to look at him, even when he opened the door to his truck for her and held out a hand to help her up. “Thanks,” she said softly, letting go of his hand as quickly as possible.

It took several moments, as usual, for him to get the ancient engine running, and Anna used the time as an opportunity to glance over at him and judge his expression. He was frowning again, but his eyes looked glazed, somehow, as if it was something more than just the engine bothering him.

When at last they rumbled out of the parking lot, Kristoff cleared his throat. “I, uh, I just realized I didn’t ask where you wanted to go.”

“Oh-- anywhere, you pick,” Anna said quickly, hoping to prove that she could be perfectly agreeable, really, when she wanted to.

“I...we can... _ fuck _ .”

He sighed and turned to her as he came to a stop at a red traffic light. “Please just...argue with me again about something, Anna.”

Her heart constricted at the pleading note in his voice; she’d never known him to beg for anything, least of all from her. A small, foolish part of her wanted to lean over and wrap her arms around him, to reassure him in a way that didn’t demand she show a similar vulnerability. Instead, she shook her head, not daring to meet his eyes. “There’s nothing to argue about,” she said, her voice small. “You’re driving, you can pick.”

The light changed, but he didn’t put his foot on the gas again until the car behind them honked. Anna turned to stare out the window, at the colorful clapboard houses and souvenir stores that slid past, at anything that might distract her for at least a moment.

“I’m sorry.”

He sounded so sad all of a sudden that she did turn to him then, unable to stop the worry that flashed through her. “What?”

“I’m really,  _ really  _ sorry for being a dick this morning. I...shit, I knew I was being one at the time, but I just...I don’t know, I just wanted you to go away. I didn’t mean to actually hurt you.”

“It’s okay,” she said out of habit.

“No, it’s not okay,” he said seriously. “I was way out of line, and you didn’t deserve that. And I know you think I really actually dislike you, and I guess that’s my fault, but...I don’t know, Anna. I’m just...sorry.”

He was still focused on the road ahead, but she could see a new tension in his shoulders and in the set of his mouth. This was a new side of him, one she didn’t think she’d ever seen before. Strange, to think that even after over a year of working elbow-to-elbow she was still learning things about him.

She took a deep breath. “It just...what you said, it was like you just...you knew.”

“Knew what?” he asked as he pulled them into a parking spot in front of a rickety looking seafood shack.

Anna squirmed under the weight of his worried gaze. “It just...it felt like you knew the exact right thing to say to upset me.”

“I-- fuck. I knew I was being a dick, but I didn’t mean to hurt you. Seriously, I-- I just said the first thing that came to mind, you gotta believe me,” he insisted, looking stricken. “I-- Jesus.”

“It’s okay,” she said hurriedly, instinctively reaching out and setting a hand on his arm. “Really, Kris, I…”

She trailed off, and for a long moment neither of them dared to move. Kristoff glanced down at her hand, his eyes lingering for a moment, before looking back up at her, something earnest in his expression. “I don’t really hate you, Anna.”

_ You should move your hand, _ the voice in her head said,  _ this is getting weird. Make a joke, play it off, tell him-- _

She squeezed his arm softly. “I don’t hate you either.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “How did...how did this get started, then? Us...fighting all the time?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought you disliked me from the start, I guess, and then I thought maybe you didn’t, but by then it was just...a habit.”

“Why did you think that?”

“Kristoff...do you really have to ask why someone thought you disliked them?” she teased, though her voice was a little more gentle than usual.

“Fair point. But I...shit, Anna, I thought you didn’t like  _ me _ .”

“Why?”

“Well, after that party you went to with Hans, you glared at me for a week, and then--”

“Wait, what? I thought you set me up with him for that because  _ you _ hated  _ me _ .”

They stared at each other in surprised silence for a long moment, and Anna realized she was still inexplicably holding on to his arm, that at some point he’d turned towards her and that their knees were now just barely brushing against each other.

“I think we’ve got some shit to talk through at lunch,” she breathed.

Kristoff opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, his stomach growled so loudly Anna jumped in surprise, her hand finally leaving his arm. They both laughed then, their cheeks reddening. “Guess we do,” he said, already getting out of the truck and moving to open the door for her.

* * *

For a little while, they managed to make small talk about the menu and the weather and how much time they had until they went back, but once the waiter had taken their orders an uncomfortable silence fell between them again. Kristoff was stirring his glass of tea with his straw, his eyes unfocused as he watched the ice cubes clink against each other. She permitted herself a moment just to watch him, to try and reconcile the parts that made up the whole of him, how he could be so gruff and irritable with her and yet look so devastated to hear he’d hurt her. 

He glanced up and noticed her staring. “Sorry,” he said, before she’d even had time to stammer out an explanation. “I-- I’m not good at...talking.”

Anna felt the corner of her mouth quirk up into a smile. “I’ve noticed.”

He managed a laugh at that. “I guess it wasn’t so bad when I was just, you know, fighting with you. But now it’s...different.”

She tapped thoughtfully at her chin. “We can keep fighting some, I think. I mean, it’s kind of fun, you know?”

“Definitely. And someone’s gotta keep you in line,” he said, a little hesitance in his voice, unsure if it was alright for him to resume picking at her like normal.

And there was that stupid instinct again that had her reaching across the table to clasp his hand. “It’s okay, Kris,” she insisted. “I’m not upset anymore, now that I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

To her surprise, he drew in a deep breath and turned his hand slightly so that he could squeeze hers in return. Something shivered within her at the realization of how much his fingers dwarfed hers. “You’ve never called me that before today.”

“Called you what?”

“Kris.”

He was right, and she hadn’t even noticed. 

She’d heard before that sleeping in the same room with someone always led to a lowering of walls between them, that the implicit trust required by doing such a thing led to an increased vulnerability, but that had all seemed like a load of bullshit to her until right here and right now, when his thumb was brushing slowly against the back of her hand and his eyes were so soft she thought she just might melt right along with them.

“Is it okay? That I do that?” she asked, shy like she hadn’t been with him for months.

He nodded, looking like he wanted to say more, but the waiter returned with their food, and the moment was lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONT BE MAD FOR THE ENDING I PROMISE THEIR TALK ISNT DONE YET


	9. crab shack 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized too late i never made it clear that they're at a work conference/retreat at the beach, they're all staying at a resort/hotel thing idk
> 
> I'm being vague about a lot of this bc I've never actually worked in an office setting like this so I don't want to look like a fool hahaaha

It was a marvel, really, how quickly she returned to him: _his_ Anna, with all her ungraceful laughter and bright smiles and brighter eyes.

He thought of her as such not because he dared to think he had any real claim to her, but rather because _this_ Anna, the one who had let go of his hand only to eat her lunch, was the one he’d grown so familiar with and fond of over the past months, the one who drove him absolutely insane in more ways than he could count.

Currently, she was in the midst of explaining in excruciating detail precisely how awful the two dates she’d been on with Hans had been, and Kristoff found himself laughing so hard his sides were beginning to hurt. 

“Seriously, Kris, it’s not _funny_ ,” she said between giggles of her own. “I ruined my tights crawling out the window, and I’d _just_ bought them.”

“Sorry,” he managed to gasp. “Just-- I’m trying to picture how you even managed to get up on the ledge--”

“Shut up, you great big brute, not all of us can be the size of a _tree_.”

“Sorry,” he said again, though he wasn’t at all. “Just-- was it really that bad that you had to climb out of the bathroom window?”

She grew a little more solemn then. “Yeah, like-- like Hans ordered a salad for me, and said to put the dressing on the side, and of course I scarfed it down like a crazy person since I’d just been hiking all afternoon with my sister, and he was going on and on and _on_ about his vision for the company, and I kept wondering what he’d do if I just reached across the table and stole a piece of his steak.”

Kristoff grew quieter, just watching her as she took a sip of her drink. Her gaze fluttered up to him after a moment, curious. “Cat got your tongue?”

He shifted awkwardly in his seat, weighing his words carefully for fear of using them carelessly again. “Just...wondering why you thought I’d do that to you on purpose.”

“Do what? Say what you did this morning?”

“No-- shit, I’m sorry again for that-- but I meant setting you up with Hans.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Was it really not on purpose?”

“Do you _really_ think I’d do Hans Westergaard a favor like that?”

“A favor, huh?”

“Well,” he stammered, “he’s-- well-- you know how he is with pretty girls.”

A little smile slid onto her face. _Please don’t ask me_ , he thought desperately, _please don’t ask me if I think you’re pretty, because I can’t lie to you, Anna, not any more_.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “So...okay. So from my perspective, it was like...I was in the break room with Jessica and Lissa, and they were trying to get _you_ to ask me.”

“Wait, _what_?”

“Mhmm. That’s why they were like ‘hey, Kristoff, Anna needs a date to the fundraiser ball, do you know anyone who could take her?’, and then Hans came in--”

“That’s what it was! I didn’t see him, I swear. Sorry, go on.”

“So then why did you say ‘I’m sure Hans is on the lookout’?”

“I was being sarcastic. He brings a new girl to everything. I didn’t mean for him to _actually_ ask you.”

Anna sat back, looking as if she’d just been handed the meaning of the whole universe. “You really didn’t? After the party-- which was _awful_ , by the way, you didn’t miss anything-- I thought you’d set me up for it almost like a prank. And then he asked me out again in front of people, and I couldn’t really say no, so that’s how I ended up on the second one, and after _that_ I was _really_ convinced you hated me.”

Kristoff shook his head, leaning over the table, and said as sincerely as he could, “Anna, even if I _did_ hate you, I wouldn’t wish that rat bastard on my worst enemy.”

She beamed at him so brightly he had a feeling she’d be holding his hand again if there weren’t plates in the way. He wished she would anyway; who cared about getting a little ketchup on your sleeve when a girl like that wanted to touch you?

A sudden thought struck him then. “Wait-- but why did your friends want _me_ to ask you?”

Her cheeks turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. “For reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“Silly ones.”

“Anna,” he cajoled, half-singing her name and wondering in the back of his mind how she’d managed to make him act so... _silly_. “C’mon, you can tell me. It’s just your favorite worst enemy.”

“You can’t laugh,” she said sternly, her blush darkening. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

She sighed and slanted her eyes away from him, leveling a determined glare at the shrimp tails on her plate. “Because I told them I thought you were handsome.”

He didn’t know what answer he’d been expecting, but it certainly hadn’t been that. “Seriously? You really thought that?”

She rolled her eyes as she dared to glance back up at him. “Oh, come on, Kristoff, as if you don’t know you’re all…” She waved a hand vaguely. “Big and blonde and. And your face and stuff.”

He wanted to take a long moment to let it sink in; it was almost too much for one day, realizing that Anna not only cared about his opinion, not only seemed to actually sort of like him, not only wanted to keep _touching_ him-- but that she thought he was _handsome_. “Wow,” he heard himself saying. “I can’t believe it.”

“Okay, okay, well, it’s your turn in the hot seat, mister,” she said grumpily, though the effect was ruined somewhat by the still-red tips of her ears. “Why _did_ you snap at me this morning?”

It was his turn to flush. “It was nothing. I was just-- just in a bad mood.”

“You’re _always_ in a bad mood,” she said, her brows knitting together as she leaned over the table. “Tell me the truth.”

 _Fuck_ , that gave him a great view right down the front of her shirt, which definitely was _not_ making this any easier. He tried not to shift too obviously in his seat as he kept his gaze firmly locked on her face. “Just-- one of those...things.”

And now she was reaching for him across the table, concern in her eyes as she settled that little hand over his arm, that little hand that he’d dreamed that morning she’d had wrapped around his _cock_ , for god’s sake, and her voice was so _gentle_ as she said, “Kris, just tell me the truth, please?”

He swallowed hard and shook his head in a last ditch effort to make her back down. She tilted her head to the side, confused, when suddenly understanding dawned in her eyes. “ _Oh._ ”

“It wasn’t ‘cause you were there,” he said quickly, although it most definitely _had_ been at least in part because of that. “I promise I’m not a--”

She sat back a little, though she didn’t move her hand. He could tell she was trying to contain her mirth and spare him further embarrassment. “It’s okay. I’ve had boyfriends before, I know how it is.”

“It’s _different_ ,” he ground out, feeling his face heat further than he thought was possible. 

He realized suddenly that something else had dawned on her, that her amusement had transformed into realization-- of what, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He shifted awkwardly in his seat again, and at last she withdrew her hand, running it absentmindedly through her hair. “Sorry, again,” he muttered, looking anywhere but her eyes.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him. “Seriously. You can’t help it. And you already apologized enough for the other stuff.”

“I still feel bad. Let me make it up to you, let me buy your lunch or something, yeah?”

She waved him away. “Let’s just say you owe me one, maybe I’ll have you drive me to the print shop next time I need to pick up a banner or something.”

He blinked in surprise. “You don’t need a favor to ask me to do that.”

Her eyes softened. “Really?”

All Kristoff could do was nod, feeling grateful that the waiter chose that moment to come by with the check. As he began to do the mental calculations for what he’d have to give up next week to cover both of their meals, Anna said quickly, “We’re splitting it, no matter what he tries to say,” even as he began to fumble for his wallet. 

And _damn_ , if that didn’t make him lo-- _like_ her even more.

  
  


* * *

By the time he emerged from the bathroom, wearing his softest old t-shirt and sweatpants, Anna was already nestled under the blankets, keeping carefully to her side of the pillow wall. A little flutter in his chest accompanied the realization that she’d decided to keep their arrangement from the night before and hadn’t set a pillow between where their faces would be.

He came to a pause by his side of the bed. “Anna?”

“Hmm?” she asked, not looking up from her phone.

“Can I...this pillow here, the one by your shoulder...do you mind if I move that one and use it tonight? Sorry, I know it’s-- well, sharing a bed and all-- but my neck kind of hurts from staring at the screen all day, and--”

She did look up at him, a look of fond amusement on her face. “‘Course. Just don’t go getting fresh with me.”

He huffed out a laugh as he shifted the pillow to his side before climbing in bed next to her, being as careful as he could not to jostle the mattress too much. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

(Except he would. And he _had_.)

He glanced over at her then, giving himself one last chance to take in the sight of her long, tawny lashes brushing down almost to her freckled cheeks each time she blinked. She noticed him staring and glanced up at him. “What? Have I got something on my face?”

“Are you gonna snore again tonight?” he asked, accompanying the words with an exaggerated wink just to make sure she knew he was joking.

She slid further down the pillows, set her phone on her nightstand with an exaggerated tap, and stretched one final time, arching her back enough he felt his mouth go dry, before turning lazily to him and giving him a smirk. “Depends. Are you gonna say my name in your sleep again?”

For a split second, he could have sworn every moving thing in his body came to a complete halt. Any half-asleep thoughts that had been trailing around his mind collapsed into the terrifying refrain of _she knows_.

“Anna?”

No response.

“Anna, did I really say that?”

She reached up and flicked off the light, leaving them in complete darkness. “Sweet dreams, big guy.”

He could hear the barely concealed laughter in her voice. _Fuck_ , he was in massive trouble; there was no _way_ he’d ever live this one down or that she’d let it go. He felt like a window fogged with steam, too warm and cloudy-minded as he struggled to come to grips with the fact that she _knew_ he had feelings for her, knew he’d woken up hard because he’d dreamed of _her_ \-- and, the realization hitting him like a splash of cold water to the face-- she was still lying in bed beside him.

“Kristoff?”

“Yeah?” he asked, a little too quickly.

“Are you still awake?”

“Obviously.”

“Because you’re worrying you’ll say my name again?”

He swallowed so hard he wondered if she could hear it. And perhaps she could, because a moment later there was a rustling of the sheets, and that now-familiar little hand was resting on his chest as Anna’s fingertips idly traced patterns across the thin white fabric of his t-shirt. “It’s okay, Kris, really,” she said, her voice gentler now. “I thought it was sweet.”

Perhaps he was in less trouble than he'd thought.

He drew in a deep breath. Her hand began to slow, and then to pull away, but before she had entirely lifted it from his chest he set his own hand down over it, so suddenly he startled even himself. He heard a sharp intake of breath from her before her hand relaxed again under his, palm flattening just over his heart.

For a few minutes they simply laid next to each other, as he let his thumb slide back and forth over her hand. As he felt his heart rate slow under the gentle press of Anna’s hand, he heard her breath slow down, evening out until a faint snore escaped her. He couldn’t help but smile then, giving her hand one last squeeze before carefully setting it on the mattress between them and rolling on his side to face her.

“Good night, Anna,” he whispered, but the only response was another snore.


	10. midpoint part 1

Once again, he was woken up by a hand shaking his shoulder and Anna’s voice as she said, “Kris. Kristoff. Wake up, I need you.”

“Mmff...what?” he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

“Remember how yesterday you said you owed me a favor?”

“Uh-huh.”

Through bleary eyes, he watched as she bit her lip, her eyes nervous. “I need to call it in.”

That got him waking up. He pushed himself up on an elbow with a wide yawn. “Okay, I’m up. What do you need me to do?”

Her face melted into a fond smile. “Nothing. I just need to borrow one of your shirts.”

“What for?”

“To wear.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s gonna fit you.”

“I’ll make it work. I have to. We’ve got that conference call with Harry today doing the dry run, remember? And I, um...I forgot my nice dress was bunched up in the bottom of my suitcase, and I just realized my shampoo leaked all over it, and--”

“Alright, alright, yeah, just grab one from the closet, no problem,” he said with another yawn. “But it’s really not gonna fit.”

A sigh of relief escaped her. “Thank you so much, seriously.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Quick as lightning, she leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek. “Go back to sleep, Kris, it’s not even half-past six.”

The only reply he could conjure up was a nod, hoping the room was still too dim for her to notice he was blushing. Mercifully, she only lingered long enough to squeeze his shoulder before darting towards the bathroom.

The next time he woke up, it was to the beep of his alarm at a quarter past seven. He sat up, swung his legs over the side, and stretched, his back cracking as he arched his arms over his head. Anna peered around the corner of the bathroom then, her hair falling in soft curls over her shoulder. “Morning, sleeping beauty,” she said cheerfully.

“Morning. How’s the shirt situation working out?”

“You tell me,” she said, a little shy, before stepping out so he could see her.

_ Fuck _ , he’d never been so glad to be wrong. The shirt didn’t fit the way it was  _ supposed _ to; it hung loosely around her slender frame, the hem hitting a couple of inches above her knees and revealing the graceful line of her freckled legs. She’d pulled a cardigan on over it, hiding the way the seams had to be falling off her shoulders, and left the top buttons undone, showing off her collarbone and a delicate gold necklace that nestled there. Kristoff didn’t know a hell of a lot about fashion, but he  _ did _ know that she looked like she’d walked right out of one of the giant posters he saw stuck up at the mall-- and that he’d be more than happy if she wore his clothes for the rest of her life.

“Is it that bad?” she asked timidly, and he realized he’d been gaping at her in silence for what was probably an embarrassingly long amount of time.

“Jesus, Anna,” he breathed, “you’re keeping that shirt, okay?”

Her cheeks colored at that, but when she crossed to stand in front of him, she was wearing a smile. “Will you help me roll the sleeves up? The shirt’s all bunched up under the cardigan, but I think if I roll them up and over and get the cuffs right it’ll look better.”

“Of course. Let me see.”

She lifted an arm, and he began carefully rolling up the sleeves the way she’d requested, feeling his mouth go dry as he saw how delicate her wrist was next to his broad hands. He wanted to linger there when he was done, trail his fingers over the pale, silky skin of her forearm and press a kiss to her palm, but instead moved to the other arm without even looking up.

“Thanks, Kris,” she said when he had finished, catching his hand in hers before he could pull away.

He gave her fingers a soft squeeze and glanced up at her with a lopsided grin. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. This almost makes up for all the times you’ve stolen my post-its. Now hurry up and get ready before the line for the waffle maker gets long.”

“Knowing you, feistypants, you’ll just elbow your way past anyone who gets between you and something sweet.”

“And knowing  _ you _ , you’ll just glare at anyone who takes too long at the coffee pot and they’ll melt away on the spot.”

“I glare at you all the time, and you’re still here,” he pointed out.

She grinned at him then, and something about it made his heart constrict. “Yeah,” she said warmly, “I am.”

* * *

“Excellent work, you guys,” Harry said with a grin. Behind him, Elsa gave them a thumbs-up and mouthed  _ fuck yeah _ .

Kristoff set a hand surreptitiously on Anna's lower back, like he’d been doing during the whole presentation, as if to steady himself. “Thanks, boss,” he said, his relief palpable.

“Any suggestions for how we can improve it?” Anna asked. “Do you think using Prezi slows it down too much? I can remake it in Keynote if you want, or I already have a backup PowerPoint.”

“No, I--”

“And are there enough pictures? I know people get overwhelmed with blocks of text, but for some of this the pictures felt extraneous, so I just thought--”

“Anna, no, it’s--”

“And did I talk too much? I know I tend to go on and on and--”

“ _ Miss Delle _ ,” Harry said firmly, and her mouth snapped shut. “I typed a short list of critiques. Once Elsa has a look over it and adds her own thoughts, I’ll email it to you. But it’s all very minor stuff, really. The important thing is that you two really know your stuff about the tech we’re using and our online sales and engagement strategies. Seriously, great work. We’ve got a conference call in a minute, though, so if you don’t mind--”

“Oh, of course! Thanks so much, Harry, really,” Anna said breathlessly. “See you Monday!”

She headed over to where the laptop was perched on a lectern, moving to click the red button and end the call. Before she did, though, she watched as on the other end, Harry turned to her sister and said, “Don’t know why the hell my brother’s always requesting we review their department, do you?”

For a moment she froze, hearing Kristoff suck in a breath behind her. Harry glanced over his shoulder then and said, “Oh, sorry guys, forgot to hang up.”

“I’ve got it!” Anna squeaked, ending the video call before he could say another word.

She turned on her heel and saw Kristoff hadn’t moved, his expression inscrutable. She crossed back towards him, but his eyes didn’t move from the now-black screen. “Fucking rat bastard, huh?” she asked softly, setting her fingertips lightly against his forearm.

He sighed and looked down at the floor, not meeting her eyes. “Yeah.”

She bit her lip, lingering for a moment to see if he said anything else, but his thoughts were clearly miles away. She slid her hand down then to give his fingers a brief squeeze before turning away to retrieve her laptop and settle back down at the table they’d been working at in the most out-of-the-way meeting room they could find. 

Kristoff joined her after a moment, already slipping his reading glasses back on as he hunched over his laptop. “I gotta finish running these reports,” he said, not looking up, “then I’ll help you with whatever Harry said.”

“No worries,” Anna replied, tapping her fingers against the table as she waited for the email to come in. 

Harry, despite being one of the baker’s dozen Westergaard brothers, was, all things considered, a more than decent boss. He never got too in the way of the work, was always willing to listen to new ideas, and-- most importantly, in Anna's opinion-- kept Elsa, who worked as his executive assistant, from overworking herself like she always tended to do. When Anna had been hired on, he hadn’t known the two of them were related, but he’d grinned when he found out and said he was looking forward to having the pair of them around.

As far as Anna knew, he was higher up on the ladder than Hans in terms of who was likely to inherit the company when it was passed down to the next generation, and she was grateful for it. Hans saw everything from a sales perspective and didn’t bother to consider the people involved, and he was outright cruel to people when it suited him, whether it made sense or not. She couldn’t help but wonder why Kristoff in particular was--

A large hand settled over her still-tapping fingers, pressing them flat against the table, and she jumped in surprise. Her eyes flicked up to see Kristoff looking at her, half-amused and half-irritated.

“You’re gonna drive me insane if you keep doing that,” he teased, his voice light.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, “just got lost in thought.”

“S’alright,” he reassured her, sliding his thumb under her palm so he could squeeze her hand. “Is the email in yet?”

“Oh-- I wasn’t even looking!”

She returned the squeeze before pulling away to refresh her inbox. “Here it is-- yeah, Harry says....’switch slide four and six….bigger font for the headers...great job.’ And Elsa says ‘relax, both of you’.” 

When she looked up, Kristoff looked stunned. “That’s it? Really?”

“I...yeah. Shit, maybe we work together better than we thought.”

They exchanged shy smiles, each of them unsure of what exactly to do next. The fixes would take less than five minutes; there was nothing left to do but present tomorrow.  _ Well _ , Anna corrected herself,  _ he probably has lots of emails still about IT problems, probably wants me to get out of his way-- _

“Do you...do you wanna take a break?” Kristoff asked suddenly, raising one hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Like...we’re at the beach, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Anna replied, trying to quell the tide of excitement in her chest that was going to overwhelm her if she wasn’t careful.

“And we’re the only department with something big like this, so everybody else has already been doing fun stuff, you know?”

“Definitely.”

“So...we could have a turn. For a little bit, anyway?”

She couldn’t fight her smile any longer. “So...what do you wanna do?”

He grinned. “Race you to the room and then down to the beach?”

Before he could say another word, she was on her feet and running for the door, her laughter trailing behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i really hope i described anna's outfit in this clearly enough LMAO basically she's wearing his shirt as a shirt dress?
> 
> https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/a1/3c/eea13c925eac6f40c9db54a46a02781a.jpg
> 
> that's the vibes i was going for lol


	11. midpoint part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick note-- i updated twice today, so please make sure you read the previous chapter before you read this one!

Anna hadn’t missed the way Kristoff’s eyes had trailed over her that morning when she’d emerged from the bathroom, how they’d widened at first in surprise before traveling from her bare legs to her exposed collarbone before landing at last on her own. The naked _wanting_ in them, that was what had made her shudder, though mercifully he hadn’t seen.

It made her wish his hands had been so bold.

Even the memory of it now made sent a flash of heat rolling like thunder through her, the way it had when he’d taken such care to roll up the sleeves for her and then looked up at her with his eyes soft once more. 

She thought she’d been pushing it too far when she’d kissed his cheek that morning, but now she wasn’t so sure. She was taking far too long now changing into her bikini in the bathroom, but if she was being honest with herself, part of her was wishing he’d knock on the door, ask what was going on, give her the opportunity to fling the door open and see if his eyes darkened again when she--

“Anna?”

“Coming!” she squeaked, her cheeks flaming red as she finished tying the top on, thanking her past self for getting one with padding in it. She turned side to side for a moment, nervously inspecting herself and wondering if he’d mind how pale she was, before giving it up; like it or not, this was what he was getting.

(Assuming he _wanted_ her like that, of course; perhaps she’d been misreading the whole situation-- friends could hold hands, couldn’t they?)

She shook her head to clear it and shrugged back into his shirt; it’d have to do for a coverup. She hadn’t really expected to have time to go down to the beach at all, not with this massive presentation in front of the whole company tomorrow, but it had gone so well her mind was still reeling. Kristoff’s was, too, she was sure, but there was something else plaguing him about it that he hadn’t yet seen fit to share with her.

When she stepped back into the main part of the hotel room, Kristoff was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing his swim trunks and a t-shirt. His eyes landed on the third button of the shirt-- left loose, so that the shirt gapped lower than it had while they were working-- and a rush of satisfaction flooded her when she saw that same hunger in his eyes when he looked back up at her face.

She dared to step closer then, enough that she could stand between his slightly spread knees. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped and tilted his head back to look up at her as she brushed some of his hair off his forehead.

“Ready?” she asked sweetly, wishing he’d reach out and touch her, too.

He nodded slowly, though it seemed he had no intention to move just yet. “I meant what I said this morning, Anna,” he said, his voice low.

“About what?”

“You keeping this shirt.”

It was her turn to be stunned into silence. If she was braver, she’d lean down and ask him _can I keep this, too?_ , and see if he’d shift forward to press his lips against hers in a silent _yes_.

Instead she gave his shoulders a brief squeeze before stepping back. “It looks nice on you, too, though,” she said cheerfully as she slid on her sandals. “Maybe I’ll just have to get my own so we can have a matching set.”

“God, can you imagine what everyone would say if we showed up to the office like that on Monday? Matching outfits and everything?”

Anna laughed and picked up the room key before holding the door open for him. “Probably think we’d both lost our minds. Or that they had.”

“Your friends would pester you so much you wouldn’t get any work done.”

She elbowed him gently as he pressed the button to call the elevator. “Me? No, Kris, it’s you they’d be all over. They’d be so excited to find out maybe you weren’t _always_ a grump.”

He glanced down at her as they stood side by side. “What will they say, do you think?”

Anna bit her lip as they stepped into the elevator together. “About what?”

He didn’t reply. She glanced over and saw he was red-faced. “C’mon, Anna,” he muttered. “I..don’t make me say it and embarrass myself if I’m wrong.”

“ _Oh_ ,” she said, the word rushing out of her as she reached over to catch his hand. “I-- you’re not wrong, Kris, not at all. I was just worried maybe _I_ was.”

He studied her expression for a moment before raising his free hand to cradle her cheek. “You’re not...this is real? You’re not fucking with me?”

She smiled and turned her head to kiss his palm. “I might have been lying about you being my least favorite person. You _are_ still annoying as hell, though.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but the elevator dinged open just then, and they quickly jumped apart for fear that someone else might see them. It was a good thing they had; Hans was passing through just then, still carrying a beach towel slung over his shoulder as he sauntered through the lobby surrounded by his cohort of fellow salesmen.

“Slacking off, Bjorgman?” he called. “Risky move with that presentation tomorrow.”

Anna felt Kristoff bristle beside her. “Thanks for your concern, Hans,” she said cheerfully. “We did a dry run for your brother, actually, and it went so well we’ve decided to take the afternoon off. He’s great, Harry, isn’t he? Really glad I’ve been hearing more lately about him taking over for your grandfather.”

Hans’s eyes narrowed, all pretense of lightheartedness falling away. “Where did you hear that from?”

“Oh, you know,” she said, idly waving a hand. “Helps to have a sister in Harry’s office.”

Before he could utter another word, she floated past him, fluttering her fingers at the small crowd surrounding him. “Anyway, good luck with those sales numbers. Heard it’s been a rough quarter.”

And with that, she took off towards the door that led to the beach, head held high. After a few moments, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Kristoff was, in fact, following her. When she saw he was, a proud smirk on his face, and that Hans was out of sight, she grinned and held back her hand for him. 

He caught it quickly, lacing his fingers through hers as they stepped through the door together. It was strange, how familiar his hand had become to hers already, how she missed it when it was gone. It sent a thrill through her to wonder if soon she’d feel the same way about the rest of him.

“Anna?”

“Hmm?” she asked, looking up to see him wearing a thoughtful expression.

“How the hell did we get from picking at each other the whole way up here to this?”

She laughed at that and squeezed his hand the way that was quickly becoming a reflex. “I read one time that if you sleep next to someone, it immediately makes your relationship stronger, ‘cause it means you’re vulnerable around them or something. But also, I think it helps that I’ve already thought you were hot the whole time. And also, I hope you know I still plan to bicker with you, _especially_ if you fuck up my stapler again.”

“That was _your_ fault.”

“Was not!” she said, sticking out her tongue and pulling away from him as they drew closer to the water. “Oh, shit, neither of us thought to bring a blanket or anything, did we?”

“Nah, but we can just sit on the sand or something.”

“But then we’ll be all grainy in... _places_ ,” she whined, wrinkling her nose. 

To her surprise, he leaned down and kissed the tip of it. When he pulled away, her eyes were wide, and his cheeks were pink. “Sorry,” he breathed, “I just-- I love when you do that.”

“Cornball,” she said, though she said it with a smile. “Anyway, guess we’ll just have to play in the water, yeah?”

“It’s March. It’s still cold.”

“Wow, Bjorgman, didn’t take you for a chicken,” she teased, already turning away from him out of habit as she began to unbutton the shirt. 

“I’m not a chicken. I just like having feeling in my legs.”

“Excuses, excuses,” she sing-songed as she shrugged the shirt from her shoulders, glancing back at him. When she realized he was watching her every move, a sudden wave of nervousness overtook her, and she kept the shirt hanging over her elbows for a moment. “Don’t look at me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you still have your shirt on, and it’s-- it’s not _fair_ ,” she sputtered. 

Without any further encouragement, Kristoff reached behind his neck and tugged his t-shirt off in one motion. “There. Your turn.”

For a moment she stood wide-eyed and unmoving, drinking in the sight she’d imagined more times than she cared to admit, even now-- and _god_ , it was so much better than anything her mind had conjured up. He noticed her staring and crossed his arms, and now she had the flex of his biceps to focus on, and how _broad_ his shoulders were, and--

“Anna,” he said, feigning irritation. “Quit staring at me. It’s your turn.”

She let the shirt fall, turning slowly towards him, and it was his turn to be left speechless. She bit her lip, wondering if he liked what he saw, or if he was just blinded by how pale she was. Without waiting to find out, she took off running for the water, shouting for him to follow after.

He did after only a moment’s hesitation, shaking his head as he loped much more slowly over the sand. When he went out of habit to shove his hands into nonexistent pockets, Anna couldn’t suppress a giggle. 

She waded out until she had to stand on her tiptoes to keep her head above water. Something warm flashed through her when Kristoff came to stand beside her and she saw the waves didn’t quite reach to his shoulders. 

“When I was a kid and came down here,” he said, smiling when she set her hands on his shoulders to help keep her balance, “we couldn’t really afford beach toys and stuff. So we used to just jump right when the waves came and let them roll under us, and we pretended that was real surfing.”

Anna grinned up at him. “I didn’t know you had siblings.”

“I...yeah. Kind of, anyway. It’s a long story. Now it’s just me and my little sister Maggie. Well, and our parents.”

She tilted her head to the side, wondering if he’d offer any more information, but something had changed in his eyes, as if they were windows and he’d just pulled the shutters closed. “Will you show me how?”

“How what?”

“To jump on the waves like you said.”

And there his smile was again, easy and broad and bright, the one that made something in her chest ache in the best way. “Sure. But we can’t be out this deep, or else you’re not gonna be able to jump.”

“Are you calling me short?”

“No comment,” he said with a wink as he sloshed back a few steps towards the shore. When she joined him, he pointed towards an oncoming wave and said, “Okay, jump on one-- two-- three!”

She followed his lead, shrieking with delight when the wave swept under them both. Kristoff laughed at her reaction and reached under the water to grab her hand. “Have you really never done that?”

She shook her head. “We didn’t really do beach trips. We were more of a museum and ballet and cultural vacation family. But, to be honest, I like this _way_ better.”

“Good, because another wave’s coming.”

She lost track of time standing and jumping beside him, still shrieking with exhilaration each time as Kristoff laughed and shook his head. And then, suddenly, her foot caught on something swept up by the tide, and she slipped and was pulled under. Half a second later, Kristoff’s hands were on her waist, pulling her upright again as she sputtered for air and shook her hair out of her eyes.

“You good?” he asked, concerned, as she grasped at his waist, suddenly overwhelmed by how sturdy he felt under her hands.

“My hero,” she breathed, any coherent thought banished from her mind at the realization of how _large_ his hand felt on the bare curve of her waist.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, turning red as he began to pull away.

She only held on tighter, her own cheeks heating as the slight softness around his middle gave way to hard muscle beneath the press of her fingers. “No, I-- I’m not trying to tease you this time,” she said with a hurried shake of the head. “That was, um...that was really sweet of you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, the flush spreading down his neck now. Anna’s breath quickened as her eyes trailed downward with it, to the light coating of golden brown curls on his broad chest, and then to the trail of darker hair that disappeared below the waistband of his swim trunks. 

When she glanced up again, Kristoff’s eyes looked darker somehow. 

“Is this okay?” Anna asked softly.

“Is what okay?”

“Me, um…” 

She trailed off, letting her hands do the talking for her as they slid slowly up his sides before slinking over his shoulders to settle behind his neck. “This. Touching you.”

His hands moved-- a little more hesitant than hers-- to her back, keeping her close against him, enough that she could feel his breath even out until it was in time with hers. He leaned forward, just barely, enough that he could brush the tip of his nose against hers. 

Anna couldn’t help but smile at how _tender_ the movement was, how utterly unlike anything she had ever expected him to do or be. “I’m starting to think that maybe you really _don’t_ hate me after all, Kris,” she teased, letting her fingers stroke gently through the damp waves at the nape of his neck.

“Where’d you get a crazy idea like that, huh?” he murmured, letting his forehead fall against hers.

For a moment she considered replying, but then she thought better of it, angling her face just a little bit, enough that if he did the same--

“Bjorgman! There you are!”

Anna jumped back from him in surprise, her heart pounding at the thought of who might have just seen her on the verge of kissing the man who, as far as everybody else knew, was still her archenemy. Mercifully, it was only Greg, the oldest man in the office, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted, “Can you show me how to work the printer?”

“Be right there!” Kristoff shouted back, already moving back towards the sand.

Before he could get too far, Anna caught his hand beneath the water, lacing her fingers through his and giving it a squeeze. He looked back in surprise, and she offered him a shy smile. “See you at dinner?” she asked hopefully.

She’d never seen him grin so broadly.


	12. please ao3 stop glitching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's a long one today yall oops

_all good w greg?_

_._

_No. Guess what was wrong with the printer?_

_._

_out of ink?_

_._

_Unplugged._

_._

_omg i feel like i shouldn’t laugh but i am_

_._

_Well, then it turns out he had six different viruses on his work issued laptop._

_._

_no shit? that’s worse than hans_

_are you gonna make it to the dinner? I’ll save you a seat_

_liss told me it’s just a bunch of subs and chips and stuff but i mean it’s free_

_._

_Don’t think I will. I’m sorry :/. Haven’t even showered._

_._

_don’t be sorry! i’ll just sneak some out and we can eat together in the room_ 😊

_can’t have you starving to death_

_._

And suddenly, the bubbling, hot tide of irritation that had been rising in him since the moment Greg had first interrupted them on the beach was all washed away.

“So,” Greg said, squinting, “where did all my toolbars go?”

Kristoff chuckled and clapped the older man on the shoulder. “Good one, buddy.”

“No, seriously.”

“I’ll cut you a deal. Either you promise me _never_ to click on a pop-up porn ad again, or I’ll tell Harry exactly _how_ many pop-up porn ads you clicked on while using your work computer.”

The other man paled at that. “How can you tell?”

Kristoff winked and tapped a finger against his temple. “Call it intuition. Have a good one, Greg.”

It was for the best that the lobby and hallways were uncrowded as he made his way back upstairs to the hotel room, because not only did he still smell sort of seaweed-y, but he was paying next to no attention to where he was going. Every part of him felt charged somehow, like the air between a burst of lightning and the clap of thunder, but in the best way; he kept pulling his phone out to check it, to remind himself that this was _real_ , that Anna actually returned his feelings, that she was _choosing_ to be with him tonight.

Tonight-- and maybe beyond that, if this streak of luck continued. 

To his relief, she still wasn’t back in the room by the time he got there; he wanted nothing more than to hold her again the way he had in the water, but he also knew that there was _definitely_ still some sand where it did _not_ belong and that his chances of finally getting to kiss her were severely lowered if he didn’t hurry up and rinse off the saltwater that still felt like it was clinging to every inch of him.

He was just rinsing the last of the suds from his skin when he heard the door to the room open and Anna calling for him.

“In here,” he called back. 

“Hurry up before your food gets cold.”

He chuckled. “It’s sandwiches. It’s supposed to be cold.”

“Yeah, but you had to stop and think about it for a second, didn’t you?”

“Did not,” he said as he switched off the water and reached for his towel.

“Definitely did,” came the cheerful reply. “But seriously, hurry up, slowpoke. I’m fucking _starving_.”

When he emerged, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt as he ran a hand through his still-damp hair, she was just coming back in from the balcony, her teeth chattering. “Hey, Kris,” she said, and without further preamble she wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled her face against his shoulder.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, one hand instinctively flying up to cradle the back of her head as the other pressed against her back, pulling her closer to his chest.

Anna sighed happily and nuzzled her cheek against him. “Sorry, is this okay? It’s just kind of chilly now that it’s dark out.”

“‘Course,” he mumbled, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “But I’ve got a sweatshirt you can borrow. I’d hold you all night, but that’d make eating difficult, huh?”

She peered up at him, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Would you really?”

He swallowed hard. “Ah, shit, Anna. I-- it’s one thing when I tell you stuff like that on accident, but on purpose…”

So fast he didn’t have time to react, she brushed a kiss against the underside of his jaw and whispered, “You’re sweet, you know that?”

Speechless, he only nodded and headed over to his suitcase. “Here,” he said, pulling out a worn, navy blue sweatshirt and offering it to her. “It’s kinda old, but it’s pretty warm.”

Anna wriggled quickly into it, and for the second time that day his heart stuttered in his chest at the sight of her wearing his clothes. The sweatshirt was even bigger on her than his button down had been; it hung nearly to her knees. She giggled as she held up her hands to examine just how far past her fingertips the sleeves dangled. “At this rate, you’re going to go home with an empty suitcase.”

Kristoff didn’t reply, too overcome with the sudden thought of _this is the night you’re going to kiss her_. Of course he had tried to earlier when they were interrupted, and he just might have even before that in the elevator if only they’d had another ten seconds or so, but now seeing her so delighted to be wearing something else of his, the way her eyes had sparkled when he’d offered, the fact that she’d snuck him his dinner up here so they could enjoy it together underneath the starlight with nothing but the sound of the waves to disturb them--

 _Tonight_ , he thought, a shiver of wonder racing through him.

“Kris?”

He blinked, startled from his reverie, and looked down to see a look of concern crossing Anna’s face. “Are you alright?” she asked, looking suddenly nervous. “You were just-- staring at me.”

“Yeah, it’s just-- just-- yeah,” he said lamely, and to his surprise, her cheeks turned rosy. 

“Well, anyway,” she said, a little shy as she tugged the sleeves up enough that her hands were free, “I, uh, I put the food out on the table out on the balcony. I got you a Dr. Pepper, that’s your favorite, right?”

He nodded, once again too overwhelmed for words, and reached down to tangle his fingers with hers.

They ate in near silence, exchanging shy glances across the little table between bites of their sandwiches. He wanted to ask her more about everything, not just about the sudden miracle that had sprung up between them but about _her_ , about what she liked to do on weeknights and where she went to elementary school and how she ended up working at an office supply company that, some days, seemed to run purely on nepotism and scotch tape.

And it occurred to him, suddenly, as he watched Anna settle further back in her chair, letting the sleeves fall back down to cover her fingers, that he _knew_ the answers, that they’d been gleaned one at a time over the fourteen months they’d worked together; that she liked to go hiking with her sister or read at home with her cat on her lap; that she’d grown up in Illinois and been homeschooled until high school; and that she’d gone to Auburn and followed her sister further east. 

And _god_ , even just realizing that he’d already known it all, that he’d known it and known that he felt this way about her for so long, was enough for him to again feel that rising certainty that he was going to kiss her tonight-- well, certainty and panic.

Anna, for her part, appeared to be more focused on the night sky than on the way he was dying a slow and painful death right there on the balcony. “I wish we could see the stars like this closer to the city,” she said softly, the evening breeze fluttering through the ends of her hair. 

“You can,” Kristoff blurted out. “I can from my yard.” 

She turned to look at him, her eyes softer than she’d ever seen them. “Can I come see them sometime?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” he breathed, hoping she understood how earnestly he meant it, and that that went for anything she asked of him; it was hers, all she might want of all he had.

He thought for a minute that the moment might be then, from the way her lips parted slightly and the way she leaned forward, but then something lit up in her expression, and she was on her feet. “Oh! I forgot we have dessert!”

He raised his eyebrows at that; it was _very_ unlike Anna to forget anything sweet. He listened to her rustling around through her bag for a moment as he drew in a deep breath, trying as best he could to steady his nerves. 

“Aha!” she said triumphantly, pulling out the bag of M&Ms he’d bought for her the day before and waving them in the air. 

“Well, how about that,” Kristoff said, trying to contain his amusement. 

She grinned, already tearing the bag open. “You want some? Hold out your hand.”

“Nah, that’s okay,” he said, and as she shrugged and popped a handful into her mouth, he added airily, “I got them for you.”

She froze, one hand halfway back down from her mouth, the other slowly losing its grip on the bag. He could have sworn he could pinpoint the moment it had clicked for her— something about the way her eyes were suddenly so bright it made his chest ache. 

“Well, don’t mind me, go on and eat them,” he said mischievously. “I spent good money on those.”

She set the bag down with a decisive _tap_ and finally remembered to swallow. “It was you?” she whispered. “The whole time?”

If he was being honest, he suddenly felt a little off balance himself. He barely managed a nod as she drew closer to him; he let his knees pull further apart so that she could stand between them as she leaned down to set her fingertips against his jaw. They were trembling, just barely.

“I can’t believe it,” Anna said, her voice barely audible. 

“Can’t believe what?”

A soft smile crept over her features. “How something so obvious was right in front of my eyes, and I never even noticed.”

His heart was beginning to pound. “I— I think I missed a couple things, too,” he murmured as she leaned down, and then suddenly— _finally_ — they were kissing, her lips earnest and still candy-sweet against his. He set his hands on her waist to try and pull her closer; she went easily, settling herself on his lap. 

“Anna,” he whispered, and felt her smile against him, and _god_ , it was even better than his dreams. 

* * *

It had been difficult, at first, to fall asleep when she’d kept giggling. “What?” Kristoff had asked, confused, as they faced each other across the mattress, still keeping their distance though they hadn’t bothered with setting up any semblance of a barrier.

“It’s just that a couple of days ago I thought you hated me, and then we just kissed for the first time tonight, and now we’re sharing a bed and it’s just-- it’s just sort of crazy, isn’t it?”

“That’s one word for it.”

She’d raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What word would you choose?”

He’d thought for a moment before saying, “Lucky,” his voice so serious it made something in her chest flutter.

And she’d bitten her lip and scooted across the midpoint of the mattress and shyly settled a hand on his chest like she had the night before, and he’d gone a step further and slid an arm around her shoulders to pull her even closer, and then they’d kissed again until Anna pulled back and whispered, “Is it okay if we just do this?”  
“What do you mean _just_ this?”

“Just-- kissing. Even though we’re sharing a bed? I just-- I don’t want to…”

“Rush things?” he’d finished for her, and she’d nodded, too shy to meet his gaze.

“Me either,” he had whispered then as she nestled her face against his chest, letting the steady beat of his heart calm her nerves until she slid into a deep, dreamless sleep.

At some point in the night, though, a sudden sense of loss dragged her from slumber, leaving her blinking, disoriented, in the pitch dark room.

“Kristoff?” she asked, reaching blindly for him before her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

He was sitting up on the edge of the bed, slumping forward with his head in his hands. Anna sat up, rubbing at her eyes. “Kris, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”

She glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand, squinting at the red digits in the darkness. “It’s after two.”

“Believe me, I know.”

He sounded so dejected that she didn’t even have to think it through before her mind was made up. She pushed the covers back and crawled over to sit behind him. After taking a moment to steel herself, she slid her arms around his waist and buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the warm, woodsy smell of his shower gel that still lingered on his skin.

“Hey,” he murmured, lowering a hand to press it over hers where it rested on his stomach.

“Hey, yourself,” she replied, nuzzling her nose just above the collar of his t-shirt. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

“No.”

“Will you anyway? Please?”

“Nosy.”

“Grumpy.”

“Hey, I was pretty cheerful today,” he contended, and a soft laugh escaped her.

“You were. It was really nice.”

He squeezed her hand at that, and she smiled, wondering if he could feel it against his skin. For several long moments neither of them moved, not daring to speak a word that might brush up too harshly against this tenuous, newborn tranquility between them, and then Kristoff sighed. “You’re not going to go back to bed, are you?”

“Nope. Not til I know you’re okay.”

“I don’t want you to worry.”

“Too late for that.”

Kristoff chuckled. “You’re too stubborn for your own good, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told. By you, mostly.”

He lowered both of his hands now, settling them in his lap, before turning as best he could to look at her over his shoulder, his dark eyes glossed with moonlight. “I’ve never told anyone this.”

“You can trust me,” Anna replied. “But you don’t have to.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. “I know. It’s just...it’s kind of a long story.”

She shifted to sit behind him, turning so she could lean against his broad back and rest her cheek against the soft fabric of his worn shirt. “I’ve got all night.”

He sighed heavily enough that she rose and fell with him. “I just...if this changes how you think about me--”

“It won’t,” she said decisively. 

“It _might_ ,” he pressed on. “So I just...I’m sorry if it does.”

“Kristoff, quit worrying and just tell me.”

He sighed again. “I just...I really need this presentation to go well tomorrow. I can’t get fired.”

Anna frowned. “Why is that a big secret? I don’t want to get fired either.”

“No, it’s-- it’s different. I _can’t_ get fired, Anna, I...I need this job to help take care of my family. And if I lose this one, I don’t think I could find another.”

“Of course you could! You’re super smart and good at all your-- your computery things, and--”

“I don’t have a degree. I barely even finished high school.”

She was glad he couldn’t see the shock she was sure was evident on her face. “But you’re the head of IT.”

“I _know_ , believe me, and I-- I know there’s no way in hell I’d get a job like this again. Shit, I’d be lucky to get anything full time. But my mom and dad, they’re retired, and they don’t have a lot of savings because they spent it on all of us.”

“All of...who?”

Kristoff groaned; she felt his back shift as he raised a hand to run it through his hair. “I-- fuck. I guess I better tell you my whole shitty life story, huh?”

She turned and pressed a kiss against the nape of his neck. “Only if you want to.”

He was quiet for a long moment then, but she waited patiently like she always did for him when it really mattered, knowing that, unlike her, he preferred to gather his thoughts in advance before diving in headfirst. Her eyelids were beginning to droop when at last he began to speak, his voice tight.

“I was a foster kid for a long time, til I was about to turn nine. And my folks took me in-- they took in, shit, I don’t even know how many of us over the years, but me and my sister were the only ones who stayed. And they were good to me like no one else had ever been, and when they finally adopted me-- shit, it was the best day of my life. But I...I was just so _angry_ sometimes, not at them but just at the whole world, you know?”

She nodded, too overcome to speak, and after a moment he sighed and went on. “And so I just...I fucked around in school, spent more time in suspension than out, fell in with a bunch of other guys who did the same dumb shit. And then one day, I got arrested, and Pop told me that was it. He made me get back into therapy, made me sit at the kitchen table and do all my homework while he watched, wouldn’t let me leave the house unless he or Ma was with me. And I was _furious_ , and then that burned out, and I was just bored as hell, and so I started messing around with computers, trying to figure out how they worked. At first it was so I could figure out how to fuck more shit up at school, but then I got serious about it.”

He paused then, shifting a little to look back at her. “I’m rambling, I know. You can tell me to shut up and go back to bed if you--”

“No,” Anna said fiercely. “I _want_ to know. And I think you need to talk about it for your own sake.”

He was quiet for a moment, just taking stock of her expression, before nodding slowly. “Maybe I do.”

She settled against his back again. “So keep going.”

He chuckled at that, and she couldn’t help but smile at the feeling of his back rumbling against her. “Bossy.”

“Grumpy. Stop trying to distract me.”

“I...okay, okay, fine. Anyway, I graduated by the skin of my teeth, but I had no clue what to do with myself. Pop, uh, he was a handyman, and he got called up to the office building-- our office building, I mean-- and so I just went with him to kill time. And one day Mr. Westergaard-- as in the old dude-- he was there, and he was really pissed off about something with his laptop, and so I offered to fix it, and I did. And he just kinda looked at me and said, ‘well, shit, son, the IT guy I got now told me to just buy a new one’, and he hired me on the spot. And I just...I worked my way up from there, you know? And because he gave me a chance, I turned my life around, and now I can take care of my parents and my sister, and if I lose this…I don’t know if anyone else would hire me.”

Something dawned on Anna then, and she leaned around his shoulder to get a look at his face. “So Hans…”

“He knows, yeah. So does Harry. Nobody else, though. So that’s why he holds it all over my head, knows I can’t do shit about it.”

“Fucking rat bastard,” they said in unison, and after a moment of surprise they both laughed. 

Anna reached over to squeeze his hand. “Maybe...maybe now if people saw the experience you have…”

“Maybe’s not good enough, not when they need me. I gotta at least help them get through til Maggie graduates, and she’s got another year of high school after this one.”

She moved then to sit beside him, tugging at his arm until he raised it and let her slip underneath it. He dropped it over her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I know that’s a lot to unload on you, Anna, I don’t blame you if--”

“Oh, shut up, Bjorgman, this doesn’t change jack shit. Except that now I think I like you even more.”

“What, really? Former fuckup, that’s your type?”

“No. But it means a lot to me that you told me all that.”

He was quiet then, his thumb rubbing slowly up and down against her shoulder. She was still wearing his sweatshirt-- he was crazy if he ever thought he was getting it back. She nestled closer against his side, wrapping her arms around his sturdy waist. “I’m here for you, Kristoff,” she said softly. “Anytime you need to talk about shit like this. It’s not gonna change how I-- how I feel about you. And tomorrow-- don’t even worry, okay? I’m gonna make sure the presentation is the best fucking presentation this company has ever seen.”

“I don’t know, last year’s presentation on solar panels is a tough one to beat…” he said half-heartedly.

“I mean it,” she said softly. “Fuck Hans. Tomorrow is going to be great. But _first_ , we gotta get some sleep. You can’t just sit up all night worrying it’ll go badly, because then that’s exactly what _will_ happen.”

“I know, I know, it’s just...I don’t know. I was just... I was thinking about all this shit, and then about _you_ , and how I finally got to kiss you, and--”

“Finally?”

“Ah, shit, this is another one of those things you’re gonna want me to say, and you only know about it ‘cause I let it slip, and--”

“Finally for me too,” she interrupted. “But you kinda already gave it away when you confessed about the M&Ms. I got the first pack of those less than a month in.”

“...yeah.”

She leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek, but before she could, he turned and caught her lips with his own. She sighed against him, letting one hand rest on his chest as his arm tightened around her.

When they broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers. “How am I supposed to sleep when it means missing out on more of that, huh?”

“Cut you a deal, if you don’t get your ass back under the covers right now, I’ll never kiss you again.”

She didn’t think she’d ever seen him move so quickly.


	13. the presentation of a lifetime

“Kristoff.”

No reply.

“Kris.”

This time, a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Kris, honey…”

She’d had a feeling that would work. He shifted against her, nuzzling his nose against the top of her head. “What?”

“You gotta let me go.”

His arms only tightened around her waist. “Why?”

“Because I have to get up and shower.”

A heavy sigh escaped him; he pressed a soft, stubbly kiss to her temple and lifted his arm from where it had been draped over her. “Have fun,” he mumbled, turning over and burying his face in the pillow. 

Fighting the urge to giggle, Anna tiptoed into the bathroom, not wanting him to miss out on any precious minutes of sleep he could get after he’d been up so late the night before. It was strange, she reflected, as she stepped into the shower, how one conversation had suddenly made so much of the last fourteen months make sense; why he always said no to going to any sort of after-work cocktail hour, even on his own birthday, and why he had been the only person not to sign up for the white elephant gift exchange-- and more than that, why he was so quiet, so reluctant to open up at all.

_ Except with me _ , she thought, a shiver rolling down her spine that had nothing to do with the pounding water; even before this week, she’d been the only one he talked to, and even if it was usually just bickering, that was a hell of a lot more than anyone else in the office got. And sometimes they had talked about real things; he knew about her parents and the car crash, and he knew about how much she’d worried over her cat when she’d first adopted him, and he’d listened and offered comfort, gruff though it was, every time she’d thought she’d finally fucked up enough to get fired.

And the M&Ms-- god, it was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her, by far. How many packets had she gotten over the last year and a bit? And she’d shared them with him every time, and he’d never even let on that he’d liked her enough to do such a thing, let alone actually  _ done _ it.

By the time she was done in the shower, she was itching to wrap her arms around him and kiss him as thoroughly as she could. She yanked on her underwear and dress as quickly as possible and, without even bothering to finish towel drying her hair, burst back into the main part of the room, only to come face to face with Kristoff sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing only his sweatpants and stretching his bare arms skyward. Her pace only stuttered for a moment at the sight, and then she was on him, laughing and climbing onto his lap as he let out a surprised cry and fell back against the bed. 

“Good morning,” she said in between pressing sloppy kisses all over his face, still creased slightly from the pillowcase.

“You, too,” he said breathlessly, trying and failing to catch her lips with his own. “What’s this for?”

He set his hands on her waist, and the feel of his broad fingers pressing against her was finally enough to give her pause, long enough that he finally managed to lean up and steal a kiss. “Just because,” she said with a grin.

“Because what?” he teased, his eyes sparkling.

“Because I have a crush on you.”

That earned her another kiss, but one that came to an untimely end when he instinctively reached to slide a hand into her hair, and they both were reminded that it was still sopping wet. “Sorry,” Anna giggled, giving him one more peck on the cheek as he wrinkled his nose and shook his hand exaggeratedly. “Let me go take care of that.”

She blow-dried her hair quickly in the bathroom and swiped on a minimal layer of makeup before returning. She spared only a glance at her lipstick before smirking and setting it back down; she’d just wait and put that on after breakfast.

Kristoff was standing now, just shrugging into a gray and white striped button down. “Let me help,” Anna said as she crossed over to him.

“Believe it or not, I can dress myself,” he said drily, but when she took hold of his collar and tugged him down to kiss his cheek, a dazed smile appeared on his face.

“Think you’re ready for today?” Anna asked as she began working her way down the line of buttons, her hands lingering for a moment when they brushed against his broad chest.

“Not at all.”

“Why not?” He shrugged, and she playfully swatted at him. “Hold still!”

“Sorry. Just-- you know. Me. Talking. Other people. Bad combination.”

She had just reached the tail of his shirt; she paused for a moment before choosing the boldest of the options laid before her and unzipping his pants to tuck it in. A huff of surprise escaped him, but he made no move to stop her.

“Well,” she said, feeling her cheeks warm as she fastened his pants back and kept her eyes trained on his chest, making a show of brushing away invisible flaws, “I’m other people, and I like talking to you just fine, so see? Nothing to worry about.”

He caught her chin with a finger and tilted her face upwards until he could meet her gaze. Though his forehead was furrowed, his eyes were soft when he said, “It’s different when it’s you. You know that.”

“Hurry up and kiss me again so we can put our shoes on,” she breathed.

He didn’t, instead shifting his hand to press against her cheek, letting his thumb slide slowly back and forth over her freckled cheekbone. “You’re bossy as hell, you know that?”

“And you’re a tease,” she said, pouting, and he laughed before conceding to her wishes.

“It’ll be okay, Kris,” she murmured between soft, languid kisses. “Like I said last night, I’m gonna make sure this is the best presentation ever. You just stand there and look pretty.”

“I feel like I should be offended by that.”

“Fine. Stand there and say the stuff we practiced yesterday with Harry and look all ruggedly handsome.”

“ _ Ruggedly handsome _ ?”

She nipped playfully at his bottom lip. “Here I am, trying to be sweet to you for once, and you’re--”

He cut her off with another kiss, and this time when they pulled away, they were both too breathless for words.

* * *

  
  


The reassurances Anna had whispered to him that morning worked pretty well until the room started filling up enough that people were standing along the walls. Kristoff turned then to face her as she set up her laptop on the podium. “Anna,” he said as quietly as possible, “this is a  _ fuckton _ of people.”

“Mhm. This is the only bit with mandatory attendance for everyone,” she said, not looking up from the screen.

“ _ Shit _ .”

“It’ll be fine, Kris. You did this yesterday for Harry, remember? And his opinion is the only one that really matters.”

“But if I fuck this up, then someone’ll tell him, and--”

She glanced up at him, her eyes soft. “You won’t fuck up. It’ll be fine, really. What was it that made yesterday so much easier? Can’t you just try that again?”

“Um,” he stammered, his face reddening. “Not exactly.”

“Why not?”

“It-- ah-- it was better yesterday because-- because it was just a video call. So I could...you know.”

“No, I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”

He sighed and went to run a hand through his hair before remembering how long they’d spent that morning on slicking it back. “It helped that I could...touch you. Just if I needed to steady myself and stuff, but today everyone will see.”

“Kristoff Bjorgman, you are the absolute sweetest man alive, you know that?” Anna said, and by the look in her eyes he knew she was wishing they could touch each other now, too.

“Yeah, well, don’t go around telling everybody. I’ve worked too hard on building my reputation around here.”

“Reputation as what? A grumpy bastard? Letting people know you have a softer side might have some benefits, you know,” she pointed out.

“I think those benefits are invalidated if I fuck up so bad today I get fired and never see them again,” he replied as the man introducing them tapped on the microphone.

In response, she darted a hand out and brushed her fingers over his where they rested against the podium, out of view of the crowd. “I’ve got you, Kris,” she promised. “I won’t let you down.”

And damn, if that didn’t make him feel a  _ hell _ of a lot better.

He turned around to face the audience, not even trying to mimic Anna’s showstopper of a smile as she accepted the microphone and introduced their presentation to the crowd. Within moments, she had them eating out of the palm of her hand, laughing at her warm-up jokes about all the buzzwords the company had been introducing at the conference and hanging on to her every word even when she got into the statistics. She did such a good job that even when Kristoff stumbled over his explanation of how the new networking systems he’d put in place over the last year they  _ still _ paid attention; he even saw Greg, sitting in the back row, raise his digital camera to take a picture of the screen-- flash on, of course.

And then, before he knew it, Anna was asking if there were any questions, and she answered most of them and gave him the rest, and then she was thanking the crowd and he was giving a terse nod and people were actually fucking  _ clapping _ as if this was something they hadn’t been forced to sit through.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, and beside him, Anna stifled a laugh.

She gave him a quick wink. “Told you.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick note: i miscounted earlier in this fic and wrote that this was a 5 night thing, it is not it's 4 nights and so the coming night is the last and they come home tomorrow
> 
> also, two more chapters to go after this and we're done :)


	14. homeward bound

Faced with the prospect of an entire afternoon devoid entirely of anything work-related, Anna made the only sensible decision there was: the moment they had everything packed up and the room was cleared, she laid a hand on Kristoff’s arm and said, “Race you to the room and the beach again?”

This time, it took quite a while longer to get into their swimsuits, especially when Anna insisted on _un_ buttoning all of her hard work from that morning and letting her hands linger just under the freed hem of Kristoff’s undershirt, her heart suddenly speeding up a lot more than she had expected.

“Not rushing things, right?” Kristoff asked, his voice strained as she raised her eyes to meet his.

“No,” she said, knowing she sounded like a petulant child. “But it’s _hard_ when you’re just standing there looking like _that_ and looking at me .”

“You’re telling _me_ ,” he muttered, setting his own hands on her hips and tugging gently forward until he could capture her lips in a searing kiss.

By the time they broke apart, they were both wild-eyed and wanting. “Definitely,” Anna said, panting slightly, “definitely not rushing. But like, just saying, I want to.”

“Jesus,” he replied, tracing the edge of her swollen bottom lip with his thumb, “you’re making me wish we got started on this a _long_ time ago.”

Somehow, eventually, they’d made it down to the beach again, though this time they’d remembered a blanket and sunscreen and, upon Anna’s insistence, the Ziploc bag Kristoff had packed his shampoo in. 

“Remind me again why I’ve got this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he set a shoe on top of the bag to hold it in place on the sand as Anna slid the same borrowed button-up she’d worn the day before from her shoulders.

“For shells. Duh.”

“For _shells_?”

“Uh-huh,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck and raising up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Don’t think you’re escaping a long walk on the beach at sunset. We need shells to commemorate the moment.”

He blushed. “Anna, there’s people out here.”

She pulled back from him, hoping the hurt didn’t show on her face. “Do you...not want people to know?”

“No! I mean-- yes, but-- _shit_ , I’m bad at this. I-- I just don’t want it to be a big deal, that’s all. And anyway, I think we’re supposed to tell HR if we’re in a relationship.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Are we in a relationship?”

He was blushing now. She wished he’d already taken off his shirt so she could watch the flush spread down to his chest. “I-- well-- I’d like to be, but I know we said no rushing, so if you want to wait that’s fine, it’s just--”

“Okay,” she said cheerily, cutting him off, “then you’re my boyfriend. Easy peasy.”

“I-- wait, really?”

She rolled her eyes. “We wasted enough time sitting around being pathetic already. I like you, you like me, I know what you’re like when you’re mad, you know what I’m like when I’m grouchy.”

“You’re never grouchy.”

“What? I’m _always_ grouchy in the mornings.”

“You just smile a little less. That doesn’t count.”

“Who made _you_ the master of all grumpiness?”

“You, actually. You literally called me that last week.”

Her lips curled up into a smile. “Fuck off.”

“Nope. You’re stuck with me now.”

“Ah, shit,” she said affectionately. 

* * *

“You know what I just realized?” Anna asked as they trudged slowly back up the beach, one hand in his and the other holding on to a now-full bag of shells she’d deemed worthy of being associated forever with this day.

“What?” he asked, looking away from the riotously fuschia sunset to meet her thoughtful gaze.

“I never reapplied sunscreen. I’m going to look like a _lobster_.”

“Ah, Jesus, me too.”

“Tragic. Guess I’ll just have to rub you down with aloe tonight.”

“Do you even have any?”

“Nope, but I have a boyfriend with a truck, and there’s a Walgreens up the street.”

“And here I thought you liked me for my charm and poise and...what did you say earlier? ‘Rugged handsomeness’?”

“God, I hate you,” she said with a happy sigh, leaning her head against his shoulder. 

He squeezed her hand. “You, too.”

Once they were back in the room, he let her shower first, content to sit on the edge of the bed and listen to her singing off-key, some Disney song from a movie he vaguely remembered taking his little sister to see years ago. 

When she emerged, wearing his sweatshirt again and still towel-drying her hair, he reached for her, but she danced away from him with a laugh. “Nope,” she said cheerfully, “not ‘til you don’t smell like seaweed anymore.”

“I only smell like that because I let you shower first.”

She pondered that for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “ _One_ kiss. That’s it.”

He rose slowly, his eyes never leaving hers, and walked towards her, not stopping even when she had to take a step back to avoid him crashing into her, continuing his pursuit until her back was against the wall and she had to crane her neck to keep looking at him. Only then did he lift his hands to settle over the swell of her hips and lower his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply until she sighed and stood on tiptoe, pressing herself flush against him and tangling her hands in his hair.

When he pulled away, she looked dizzy. “ _Jeeeee_ -sus, Kristoff.”

He shrugged, pretending he didn’t feel equally stunned. “You told me one kiss. Figured I’d make the most of it.”

When he strolled casually away towards the bathroom, he could have sworn he heard her mutter to herself, “ _No rushing_.”

* * *

Kristoff let out a long sigh as she squirted a generous amount of aloe vera gel onto his sunburned back. “ _Fuck_ , I needed that.”

Anna giggled and shifted so she was sitting cross-legged behind him on the bed. “I think you got burnt worse than me. Probably because I was standing in your shadow all day. Kinda nice to have my own personal shade tree now.”

“Shut the fuck-- _ahh_ , Jesus,” he groaned as she began to carefully spread the green goo over his back. 

“What was that you were saying?” she said sweetly. “That you’re so grateful to have me around to do this that you’ll never steal my Post-Its again?”

“I’ll buy you all the Post-Its you want, Anna.”

She smirked as she swept her hands slowly down to his lower back, feeling goosebumps prickle his skin underneath her careful touch. “I’m gonna hold you to that. Hang on, let me do your front now.”

She got up and moved to stand between his spread knees, humming some song she’d heard on the radio in the hopes that she’d come across as carefree and disinterested as she applied more of the aloe vera to his broad chest. That was one of the very few perks of being sunburned, she supposed: that he couldn’t tell how much she was blushing.

“There,” she said, her voice just a little bit too high, “you’re all done.”

Before she could say more, he set his hands on the back of her legs, bare except for her pajama shorts. She shivered as his thumbs began sweeping slowly up and down. “Do you want me to do you next?”

An involuntary gasp escaped her as she finally met his eyes; they were sparkling with mischief. “You’re _awful_ , Kris,” she said sternly. 

“Sorry,” he said, in a voice that made it clear he wasn’t sorry at all. “But I really will do your back if you want.”

“It’s not my back that got burned, it’s my face and my…”

 _God_ , she had to be blushing hard enough now that he could see it through the burn. “My...upper half. On the front.”

“...oh.”

“Yeah. So, um...maybe I’ll just...do that bit myself. In the bathroom. Where you’re not looking at me like that and touching my legs and being all...being all...yeah. You know.”

He slid his hands higher up on the back of her legs, his fingers edging dangerously close to the hem of her shorts. “Do you not like it when I touch you here?”

“That’s not the problem, and you know it,” she said as sternly as she could, sliding her hands into his hair.

“Do I, though? You might have to spell it out for me.”

“I think I preferred fighting with you,” she grumbled, leaning down to kiss him, his mouth falling open with a sigh when her nails scratched lightly against his scalp.

Later that night, as they laid facing each other across the bed, Anna reflected on the unfairness of it all, how the reason Kristoff was lying shirtless beside her was the same reason she couldn’t reach out and touch him.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, his voice low, handing her the golden opportunity for revenge after he’d teased her earlier that evening.

“Just wondering about something,” she said airily.

“About what?”

“About your dream the other night, the one about us. And if it was a good one.”

He was silent for a moment, then he shook his head and said, “Well, guess you’re driving us home tomorrow.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m not going to be able to sleep at all now.”

She reached across the sheets, holding her hand out to him, and through the darkness, she watched him smile and take it.

“Me either,” she admitted.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment, and then at last Kristoff said softly, “I know we’re teasing each other a lot, but I...I really don’t want you to think that just because I-- because that happened, that I-- well-- I’ll wait if you want. Or not wait if you don’t want, just--”

Anna squeezed his hand, and immediately he stopped talking. “Kris?”

“Uh-huh?”

“I really like you.”

“...I really like you, too.”

She shuffled a little closer to him, wishing she could curl up beside him and lay her head on his chest again. “And that’s the important thing, really, so don’t worry about the rest. It’ll happen when it happens, yeah? All of it, I mean, not just the sex...stuff.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “I just...I worry about things.”

She opened her mouth to tease him before thinking better of it; she had a feeling that this one might be his sore spot. Instead she considered her words carefully for a moment-- a new sensation for her, one that’d take some getting used to-- before saying, “I know. And that means you care, and that’s-- that’s a good thing. And I like that about you.”

He shifted closer to her and lifted her hand, settling it over his heart, the same way they’d slept together two nights before. Anna raised an eyebrow and asked, “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Yeah. But I don’t really care.”

* * *

He found himself immensely grateful the next morning that he’d insisted Anna keep the sweatshirt he’d loaned her, not only because of how it made his chest warm to see the way it hung down over her denim shorts as he helped her into his truck but also because of the _look_ one of her friends shot him across the parking lot.

He gave the woman a grin and a shrug in reply, more interaction than they’d had in-- well, probably ever. Her eyebrows flew up before she returned the grin, accompanied by a thumbs up.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad, he realized, if people knew; there was something sort of nice about it, that whatever this was between them-- a _relationship_ , he was a fucking _boyfriend_ now, who would’ve believed it-- wasn’t a weird secret to keep hidden but something to be proud of. 

“I think your friend over there has caught on to us,” he told Anna as he climbed up to sit beside her in the cab of the truck.

She glanced up from her phone and out the window. “Who, Liss? Yeah, I texted her and Jessica about us kissing, like, the second you went in the bathroom.”

“You did _what_?”

She looked over at him, worried. “Is that not okay? Sorry, I just-- I was just really excited about it, and they already knew I had a crush on you, so I...I just wanted to tell them.”

“I...you did? You wanted them to know?”

“Well...yeah,” she said, clearly confused. “I kissed a cute boy. I wanted to brag about it.”

“Oh,” he said as he began to pull out of the parking lot, dumbfounded by the thought that Anna would be proud of kissing him instead of the other way around.

“So it’s okay?” she asked nervously. “That I told them?”

He reached out and set his hand over hers where it rested on the bench between them. “Yeah. It just surprised me that you’d want to, I guess.”

“You’re crazy, you know that?” she asked affectionately. “Can we roll the windows down again?”

“Only if you promise not to blame me when it ruins your hair.”

“It’s in a bun today, so it won’t.”

“Oh. I guess I have a lot to learn about how these things work.”

“What, women’s hair?”

“Uh-huh,” he said, having to shout a little over the wind as they pulled onto the interstate, both windows rolled all the way down. “And being a boyfriend and all of that. Been a long time since I had to do any of this.”

Anna grinned at that. “Well, I’d say you’re doing pretty good so far.”


	15. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i updated twice today so make sure to read the previous chapter if you haven't already :)

The Tuesday after the trip, Kristoff had decided he’d spend his lunch break catching up on the emails sent in by people from other branches of the company curious about his and Anna’s work. He’d just gotten started on replying to one asking what a network system was when he heard the telltale creak of the chair beside him. Surprised, he looked up to see Anna sitting there, already taking a bite of a massive burrito.

“Hello,” she said cheerfully after she managed to swallow. 

He just stared at her, dumbfounded, and she laughed. “What is it? Have I got a bean on my face or something?”

Kristoff’s eyebrows furrowed. “We eat lunch together on Mondays.”

“...do you not want me to eat with you today, too?”

“No, of course I do! I-- I just didn’t think you’d want to.”

She shrugged. “Lacy was telling everybody about some new salad place, so they all went there, but I skipped breakfast this morning and knew I’d be starving if I just ate some leaves for lunch, so I ran to Chipotle. I got some chips and guac, do you want some?”

He tilted his head to the side, perplexed. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously, I’ll share with you, I’m not  _ that  _ rude.”

Kristoff laughed at that. “No, I just-- well, I mean, yes, I’d like some, I only brought soup-- but...I don’t know. You could eat with other people, and you still picked me?”

“Am I losing my mind here? I thought we’d decided you were my boyfriend now.”

“I am,” he said quickly, worried he’d already ruined things, “I just...you already spend all day with me. And we talked on the phone last night, and I’m...I don’t know. I’m boring.”

“No you’re not. You’re just quiet. Not the same. And anyway, tomorrow is Waffle House Wednesday, so you’ll have a break from me then.”

He just watched her for a moment as she took another bite of the burrito, still marveling at the fact that the previous week had happened at all, that somehow all of their bickering and cold shoulders had turned into something that felt so much like home.

Anna’s eyes softened as she looked at him, and she set the burrito aside to reach out and clasp his hand. “I like you, Kris, really,” she said earnestly. “You’re just going to have to get used to it, I guess.”

He squeezed her hand gratefully. “Guess so.”

* * *

“I just don’t understand what the problem is,” Anna snapped as she strode into her apartment, turning on her heel and glaring at him.

Kristoff scowled and slammed the door shut. “I  _ told _ you what the problem is. I’m not going to the work picnic because I don’t  _ do _ this shit.”

She flung her hands up in the air, her face reddening with anger. “And why  _ don’t _ you do it, Kristoff, can you explain that to me?”

“No, I can’t! I just  _ don’t do this _ , and that’s final.”

She flung her purse down angrily on the ground. “Here I thought we’d have a nice night in, and instead you’re being-- you’re being--”

She took in a great, gasping breath, and then he watched, helpless, as a tear dribbled down her cheek. “I don’t,” she choked out, “I don’t know how to fight with you when we both mean it.”

“Mean what, baby?” he asked, a sudden fear overtaking him. 

“What we’re saying,” she said, and then suddenly she was holding her arms out for him, pleading, and he rushed to her and pulled her close against his chest, cradling the back of her head as she wept against his shoulder. 

“I don’t want to  _ ever _ say something to hurt you, Anna,” he said seriously. “I— shit, I didn’t even mean for this to turn into a fight at all.”

She sniffled, her fingers curling up into the fabric of his t-shirt. “I didn’t mean for it to, either. I just...I don’t want you to be embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“ _ What? _ Honey, no, I— I said I wasn’t going to the picnic because I thought— I thought I’d ruin it for you.”

She leaned back to look at him, frowning, and his heart clenched at the sight of her puffy eyes and the tears clinging to her lower lashes. “What? How could you ruin it?”

“I just— I don’t know. I never go to work social stuff like this because I never know where to sit or who to talk to or...or any of it. Shit, I try to avoid talking to people even  _ at  _ work.”

“I’ve noticed,” she said with a wobbly smile, and the fear that had flooded him began to fade. “But that’s an easy fix. Sit with me and talk to me, and if other people come over talk to them too.”

“What if I don’t know what to say?”

“Then just smile and nod. They won’t care, most people prefer to do a lot of the talking themselves, anyway.”

Kristoff raised a hand to stroke a stray lock of hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. She smiled softly at the gesture. “You really want me to go? You’re sure?”

She nodded so enthusiastically he couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, okay, then I’ll go.”

Relieved, Anna buried her face in the crook of his neck again and tightened her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said softly. “I was just…worried, I guess, because you say no to everything like this.”

“I’m sorry, too, for hurting your feelings. Really, Anna, it’s just— it’s just me being awkward and set in my ways, I guess. I want to be the guy you deserve but I’m just...just still learning how.”

She rose up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I like you the way you are now. Even if you are the grumpiest man on the face of the earth.”

“Am I still your least favorite person?”

“Nah. Second least.”

“After who?”

She looked up at him, her eyes shining with laughter instead of tears, and they both said in unison, “Greg.”

  
  


* * *

“You really did all this for me?” Anna asked, her eyes soft as Kristoff gave her a hand getting up into the bed of his truck.

“Well...yeah,” he said, blushing. “I didn’t want you to get cold. It’s still kinda chilly at night out here. And anyway, it’s really not that much.”

For a moment she stayed standing at the end of the truck bed, taking in the sight of the pile of pillows and blankets he’d carefully arranged for them there. It was the first time she’d been out to his house; he lived about half an hour outside of the city on a few acres of land, in a house he and his father had fixed up a few years ago. He’d already made her dinner from scratch and watched her favorite sitcom with her before walking her out here to where he’d parked his truck on the grass so they could watch a meteor shower.

And it wasn’t even her  _ birthday _ .

She realized then that she was blocking him from climbing up after her and quickly removed her shoes, tossing them over the side of the truck before crawling up the heap of blankets and settling with her back against the cab. He joined her a moment later, setting his arm over her shoulders so she could nestle against his side in a way that was so easy it was starting to feel like instinct.

“This is perfect, Kris,” she said softly, feeling so overwhelmingly happy she was glad he was there to anchor her and keep her from floating away.

To her surprise, though, when she looked up at him, he was frowning. “What is it?” she asked, shifting to sit further upright.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again, the furrow in his forehead deepening. Worried, Anna raised a hand to brush his hair off his forehead before settling it against his cheek. He sighed and leaned into the touch. “I just...shit, Anna, I don’t know how to say this.“

Suddenly nervous, she bit her lip. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

He turned and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. “It’s just...I try to explain it sometimes, how I feel about you, because I want you to know. And I wonder if it’s-- if I just love you so much I  _ can’t _ explain it. Like it’s just...too much for words.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “You...love me?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Oh, shit. I...I was going to tell you in a better way than that, and I hope it’s okay, I know it’s kinda early but--”

“I love you,” she breathed, shifting to straddle his lap. He let out a noise of surprise and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I  _ love _ you, Kris,” she said again, carding her hands through his hair. “So much that it’s been so hard not to say it in case you didn’t feel the same, but now I-- I  _ love _ you, I really,  _ really _ do.”

His eyes were full of starlight as he gazed up at her, looking slightly dazed. “You do? Really?”

“Of course I do,” she laughed, and then she was leaning down and kissing him, but there was a new urgency to it tonight, in the way his lips tugged at hers and the little gasps that escaped her and the tightening of his fingers against her hips. When his tongue flicked languidly against hers, she groaned and rocked her hips instinctively against him, a shiver running down her spine when she felt the hard ridge of his erection pressing up against her core.

She broke away, panting, and rested her forehead against his. “Kris, baby, can I ask you something?”

“ _ Anything _ .”

She smiled and brushed the tip of her nose gently against his, her heart pounding with anticipation. “Can you...will you...will you tell me about that dream you had now?”

His breath quickened; he knew what she was really asking. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice low and thick with wanting.

“Very,  _ very _ sure,” she said, biting her lip.

His eyes lingered for a moment on her mouth before traveling up to meet her gaze, his pupils blown wide. “I was holding you like this. And I could smell your perfume, and I knew I loved you, and I called you mine.”

She kissed his forehead, and his eyelids fluttered shut. “I am yours, Kris.”

He lowered his mouth to her neck, trailing a blazing line of kisses down the column of her throat, tugging at the collar of the sweatshirt that had once been his to expose more of her skin. “And I kissed you the way I’d wanted to for  _ so  _ long.”

A whimper escaped her as her hands fluttered down to press against his shoulders, steadying herself as his stubble grazed over her collarbone. “Then what?” she asked breathlessly.

“Well,” he said, huffing out a laugh that sent a wave of warm breath over her skin, “it was a dream, so we got naked pretty quick after that.”

“We can work on that,” she said, already sliding her hands to fumble his buttons apart. 

He laughed and aided her, shrugging out of the shirt before pulling off his undershirt in one movement. For a moment Anna sat back on his lap, admiring the view, but before long a low growl rumbled through Kristoff’s chest, and he set his hand behind her neck, pulling her back down into another kiss. 

She nipped at his bottom lip and pulled back. “What happened next?” she asked breathlessly, pulling off the sweatshirt as quickly as she could.

Kristoff’s gaze lingered for a moment on the swell of her breasts above the lacy edge of her bra; he’d seen her shirtless before, but there was something different in his eyes now, something reverential. She set her fingers under his chin and tilted it up so he met her eyes. “What next? What did you dream about?”

His eyes were burning straight through her. “You touching me.”

A slow smile unfurled across her features. “Do you want me to do that now, Kris? Do you want me to touch your cock?”

“ _ Jesus _ , Anna,” he hissed as she reached for the zipper of his jeans. “I-- if you want to--”

“I do,” she said, palming him through the front of his boxers.

He groaned and pressed up instinctively into her touch. “ _ Fuck _ , I love you, baby.”

“Love you, too,” she said, clambering off his lap so that he could shuffled out of his jeans and boxers and kick them out of the way.

For a moment, Anna sat back on her heels, drinking in the sight of him before her. He flushed beneath her gaze, his chest turning the same delicious rosy shade as the head of his cock. She wrapped her hand experimentally around him, and even before she began to move he groaned, his head falling back with a thunk against the window of the truck. “Everything alright, baby?” she asked sweetly as she began to slide her hand up and down, feeling a thrill roll down her spine at the realization that he was...well,  _ proportional _ . 

“Anna,” he panted, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched her movements, “that wasn’t-- wasn’t all that happened.”

She tilted her head slightly as her hand sped up. “So what was next?”

He groaned in response and shook his head. “ _ Fuck _ , Anna, you-- if you keep doing that-- shit--”

She stilled her hand and leaned over to kiss him softly. “What else do you want me to do, baby?”

“Stop asking me,” he said, his voice low. “What do  _ you _ want?”

In answer, she moved away from him and unfastened her bra, flinging it carelessly aside before standing to peel off her leggings. The moment she was bare before him, Kristoff sat further up and set his hands on the sides of her legs, his lips trailing a line of kisses up the inside of her thigh. She gasped and felt him smile against her. “Let go,” she gasped, “let go and let me-- let me--”

He slid his hands down, and a moment later she was beside him on the blankets again, both of them lying on their sides and facing each other. “I understand if you don’t want to,” she said, a flush of nerves overtaking her, “but I’m on the pill, so there’s nothing to worry about, so…”

His eyes had never looked so dark as they did now, as he asked softly, “Do you want that, Anna?”

A little whine escaped her throat as he slid a lazy finger across the crease of her hip and settled it against her center, trailing lazy circles around her clit. “ _ Yes _ . I want-- fuck, Kris, I want you inside me.”

He slid a finger slowly inside her, curling it as he thrusted slowly in and out until she gasped. “Like this?”

“You know-- what I mean-- hurry  _ up _ ,” she whined, turning over to lay on her back.

“You’re bossy as hell, you know that?” he murmured as he shifted to hover over her. “You could at least say please.”

“ _ Fine _ , then,” she ground out, lifting her hips slightly to encourage him, “ _ please _ , Kristoff, hurry up and  _ fuck me _ .”

“I love you, Anna,” he breathed as he slowly sheathed himself in her, moving carefully to allow her time to adjust. “ _ So _ much.”

She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of fullness that, if she was being honest, she’d dreamed about, too. After a moment, when Kristoff didn’t move, she lifted her hips, encouraging him. “You’re good,” she panted, her hands tangling in his hair. “ _ So _ good, I--”

Her words trailed off into a moan as he began to move in her, slowly at first, then picking up speed when she hooked a leg around him, desperate to get as close to him as possible. When he lowered his fingers to circle around her clit, a loud cry escaped her that sounded like a half-strangled version of his name.

“Thank god you don’t have neighbors,” she managed to say, and he chuckled before pressing a long kiss to the crook of her neck.

“I love you,” he whispered again, and when she shuddered against him he whispered it again, his stubble scratching against her skin and his fingers speeding up until she came with another cry, her walls clenching around him. He followed soon after, her name on his lips.

Anna let her hands slide down from his hair to drape lazily over his shoulders. “Wow,” she said dreamily. 

“Uh-huh,” he mumbled, moving to press a line of sloppy kisses up her neck and to her cheek. 

“When you said we were gonna see stars…”

“Jesus, Anna,” he muttered, though he was smiling as he leaned down to kiss her softly. “What am I gonna do with you?”

“Well, preferably, all of that again.”

* * *

It was still sort of strange, she reflected one midsummer morning as she let her hand dangle out of the window of Kristoff’s truck, how much had changed in so short a time, how fourteen months of bickering had transformed nearly overnight into the best four months of her life; how easy it had been to let herself fall in love with him and be loved in return.

Feeling suddenly sentimental, she scooted closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He chuckled and put his arm around her. “We just stopped twenty minutes ago, baby, you’re going to have to wait if you want more candy.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll just eat yours,” she said, nuzzling her nose against his neck. “But anyway, I just...I don’t know. I love you, that’s all.”

“Love you, too,” he said, squeezing her shoulder. 

“Enough that you won’t be mad if I really do eat your candy?”

“...but god, you’re still my least favorite person in the world sometimes.”

She laughed and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “You’re mine, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we're done!!!
> 
> thank you again to gabi for giving me the idea for the fic and helping me with it  
> thank you molly/laura/melissa/robin for hyping me and proofing parts of this yall are GREAT  
> thank you everyone for reading along!! i hope you enjoyed it :)


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